UK record industry sues 28 file-sharers

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The UK record industry is suing 28 people in an attempt to stop them sharing music files over the internet. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) says the legal action is aimed at “major filesharers” and “large-scale uploaders”. More cases are expected to follow. The BPI will seek damages and injunctions to stop people uploading tracks onto file-sharing networks.

Peter Jamieson, chairman of the BPI, said: “We have been warning for months that unauthorized file-sharing is illegal. These are not people casually downloading the odd track. They are uploading music on a massive scale, effectively stealing the livelihoods of thousands of artists and the people who invest in them.” The BPI has run a hearts and minds campaign for some time. In March it gave a final warning that if things did not improve it would consider legal action. Since then it has sent 350,000 instant messages to uploaders warning them of possible legal action.

View: The full story

News source: The Reg

Cont...

At present the new venture is being called "Exclaim," but this is apparently only a temporary name and is likely to be replaced before the firm starts trading. Cousens is joined in the new venture by Europlay Capital Advisers, the Los Angeles based firm which is headed by industry veterans Sean Brennan and Mark Dyne and has advised on a number of major industry deals in recent years.

It's expected that along with the Cheltenham and Manchester studios - accounting for some 160 employees - "Exclaim" will also take possession of several of Acclaim's products in development, including Interview with a Made Man and Heist.

#1 Jugalator on 07 Oct 2004 - 11:16

OMG, 28 sharers!

I'm shaking in fear.

"effectively stealing the livelihoods of thousands of artists and the people who invest in them"

I don't think so. No reports I have seen have shown this at least.

(5 replies) #2 LastSamurai on 07 Oct 2004 - 11:17

whats wrong with UK these days? do you have to follow every step US takes?

#2.1 ZeroXero on 07 Oct 2004 - 11:22

yeah you know, gets really annoying.

#2.2 Jon on 07 Oct 2004 - 12:48

Do you not think it might have something to do with pressure from the artists / labels?

#2.3 8-n-1 on 07 Oct 2004 - 13:03

Don't you guys know, the UK is now a US colony.

#2.4 kev64 on 07 Oct 2004 - 15:16

No, the US is a UK colony.

#2.5 Darkness2k on 07 Oct 2004 - 18:26

Do we actually want it!?

#3 lunamonkey on 07 Oct 2004 - 11:37

So the law is about sharers, meaning uploaders, correct?

I'll be using mIrc then rather than bittorrent.

#4 mattking on 07 Oct 2004 - 11:47

I have no time for these corporations who make billions of pounds a year and yet still complain about lost revenue.

#5 Ramses on 07 Oct 2004 - 11:56

What about downloading music that isn't in retail anymore?

#6 turbodonkey on 07 Oct 2004 - 11:56

mmmmm, so what about all the people in the music artists industry who use pirated copies of cubase etc? I take it its OK for them to steal?

#7 Signum on 07 Oct 2004 - 12:12

No matter how much they try there never going to stop it

#8 YaZoR on 07 Oct 2004 - 12:30

QUOTE

Since then it has sent 350,000 instant messages to uploaders warning them of possible legal action.

No one takes notice of a "threatening" Instant message through any p2p software.

n00bs!!1111

#9 SniperX on 07 Oct 2004 - 13:11

The difference being that the UK legal system is nothing like the US legal system (thankfully) and the courts will/would soon get pissed off having a queue of file-sharers cluttering up an already too busy court system.

God-forbid we adopt the American, 'can't work, will sue' attitude.

#10 CdCViRus on 07 Oct 2004 - 13:16

artists are not exactly starving these days, so it's ok to download their music and not pay them
if they were starving, then i would still download their music, and not pay them. i think that 1 cent per track is too expensive

#11 PR. on 07 Oct 2004 - 13:32

With the kind of punishments UK Courts dish out to people I expect most will spend half their sentence sitting in reception waiting to be called into the court room

#12 aleks on 07 Oct 2004 - 13:48

Serves them right for sharing UK music like Robbie Williams to the world

(1 reply) #13 pctuk on 07 Oct 2004 - 14:20

Anyone know which protocol they were using?

#13.1 longwilli on 07 Oct 2004 - 17:13

the digital millenium copyright act i would asume

#14 Kushan on 07 Oct 2004 - 16:57

This is so pointless, thanks to the US onslaught by the RIAA, there's all sorts of programs, guides and tools to help you not get caught, those of us who are heavy file sharers and know a tiny bit about stuff don't have to really worry as much....in theory..

#15 cool_guy6_06 on 07 Oct 2004 - 19:10

well said

#16 SOSAGES1 on 08 Oct 2004 - 10:21

its still stealin regardless of how u feel about it - id like to see you all banned from the web for stealing mp3s etc..

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