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RIAA promises to sue fewer file sharers
For the last few years the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has taken a rather aggressive stance on copyright protection by suing individuals who shared songs over the internet using file sharing software. The Wall Street Journal reports that's all about to change. Well, somewhat anyway. After filing suits against 35,000 individuals the RIAA plans to give up on mass lawsuits. That doesn't mean it won't file any lawsuits against people who illegally upload and share music. But for the most part the group now plans to work with internet service providers instead. The goal is to hunt down customers who are violating copyright. Under the agreements, the ISP will give users a few warnings and then may terminate their accounts.
On the bright side, this means that ISPs don't have to fork over any personal data on customers. The RIAA can submit a list of IP addresses and the ISP can decide whether to go after the users based on that information.
It's not entirely clear whether the RIAA's efforts over the past 5 years have done more to alert people that file-sharing is against the law or to let them know that file sharing software exists and is a cool way to find free music. Now it's time to see if warning letters from ISPs do the trick. Considering how many people say they find internet access to be more valuable than sex, it just might.
Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsDavidDec 19th 2008 3:15PM
music might soon be free....ad supported music is the way to go
BernieDec 19th 2008 5:10PM
I was under the impression that monitoring my web traffic was, I don't know, a violation of privacy and most likely illegal.
I have a feeling the ACLU won't like this at all.
PeterDec 20th 2008 11:12AM
Bernie - I'm sure if you read the terms and conditions you agreed to when you signed up with your ISP it includes a provision to allow them to monitor your traffic.
That's not saying it's right or a good idea, but I doubt it is illegal. You employer has the right to monitor any traffic that travels over its network, why would the ISP be different.
bradwjensenDec 19th 2008 5:39PM
Well.. If some ISP companies decide to start giving their customers the boot then they'll soon be losing good money and will most likely miss out on future customers that they could have gained from some good old word of mouth.
Dynamic IPsDec 20th 2008 11:50AM
If an allegation of copyright infringement is based on an IP, and the IP changes every so often on the whim of an ISP, it will be hard to track down the alleged pirate(s).
BoBDec 20th 2008 4:12PM
American stop buying their products completely and the record companies will no longer have the power to bother any of us.