[Infowarrior] - 20,000 Copyright Lawsuits and Counting

[Richard Forno]

Happy Anniversary Pirates: 20,000 Copyright Lawsuits and Counting
By David Kravets EmailAugust 29, 2007 | 2:07:48 PM
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/happy-anniversa.html

Four years ago, the recording industry set off a legal firestorm when it
sued 261 music file-swappers, a move that has reshaped the peer-to-peer,
file-sharing world and revamped pirating technologies.

The legal tempest commenced September 8, 2003. Members of the Recording
Industry Association of America have followed with some 20,000 similar
lawsuits, legal threats and settlements, according to a report published
Wednesday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"The lawsuits, however, are not working," according to the report by the
California  privacy group. "Today, downloading from P2P networks is more
popular than ever, despite the widespread public awareness of lawsuits."

The report's conclusion: "Suing music fans is no answer to the P2P dilemma."

Napster was shuttered. But alternatives like Aimster and AudioGalaxy filled
the vacuum. They too, were supplanted by Kazaa and Morpheus, which were
overshadowed by eDonkey and Bit Torrent.

The report details several stages of the industry's litigation tactics.

At its infancy, the RIAA issued 1,500 subpoenas to internet service
providers nationwide, a prelude to its first 261 targets. It has evolved.
The RIAA has created a web site for infringers to pay fines with credit
cards.

One initial target was Brianna Lahara, a 12-year-old girl living with her
single mother in a New York City public housing project. She paid $2,000 to
settle the case

A month later, the legal tactics changed. The RIAA issued 204 threat
letters. A majority of the targets settled for an average $3,000. The 80
alleged infringers who did not settle were sued weeks later, according to
the report.

After the legal landscaped changed, a later phase of the litigation began in
2004. More than 500 so-called "John Doe" lawsuits were filed targeting
unidentified uploaders. The courts issued subpoenas to the ISP's who turned
over the users' identities.

Thousands of cases later, the litigation entered yet another phase, this
time tagging university students. The so-called  "deterrence and education
initiative" has pegged about 3,000 students at 100 campuses nationwide.

To speed up settlements, the RIAA set up a web site, where "those receiving
pre-litigation letters can simply settle their cases by paying the
settlement with a credit card, without any aspect of the case ever entering
the legal system," according to EFF's report.

Plastic Justice at its finest.