By Alan Gahtan - July 21, 2003
The Recording Industry of America is set to adopt new tactics to stop online file sharing. After suffering some recent legal setbacks in their pursuit of online peer-to-peer file sharing services like Kazaa, the record labels will now begin targeting consumers directly.
After the fall of the legendary file-swapping pioneer,
Napster, many users switched to alternatives like Kazaa and Morpheus, services
which do not maintain a centralized database and are more difficult to shut
down. However,
The RIAA’s new phase will start with the targeting of individuals who make a substantial amount of copyrighted music available online. Their hope is that filing several hundred lawsuits in the coming months will serve as a deterent, at least against those individuals who are providing access to large collections. The publicity should also cause parents to pay more attention regarding what their children are doing using an internet connection that is registered to them.
However, the music industry acknowledges that they will need to tread carefully. Suing customers can’t be good for business. On the other hand, unless something is done, the problem can only get worse. While generally music sales have declined, the drop in online music sales have been even more pronounced.
The RIAA and the Motion Picture Assocation of America have also been trying to pull the plug on file sharing at work. Last February they sent “friendly reminders” to Fortune 1000 companies regarding the legal liabilities they could face if their employees are illegally exchange copyrighted works using corporate computer systems.
Universities, whose Internet access is used by many users
of peer-to-peer software, may also be forced to reconsider the access they
provide. The
Up to now, users of peer to peer file sharing software like Kaaza have been enjoying a free-for-all party. At any one time, there are several million users online sharing a huge collection of songs. Popular television programs and even the latest motion picture movies are only a few mouse clicks away.
The RIAA will initially file lawsuits against people with
the largest collections of music. Under
In the days that followed the RIAA’s announcement, the number of Kaaza users fell by about 20%. The actual effect may be greater since some users may have simply stayed online but disabled sharing of their own files. In any case, the effect is likely to be temporary until the promised lawsuits start rolling in.
The RIAA’s efforts will be made easier by its recent
legal success in forcing ISPs such as Verizon and Earthlink to cough up the
names of some of their subscribers. The
effect will be that users will no longer be able to hide behind an anonymous
Internet address. Even in
Each user on the Internet is assigned an Interent Protocol (or IP) address whenever they are online. In most cases, these IP addresses are different each time a user goes online. However, the Internet service providers maintain logs which can be used to match the real identity of the user of a particular IP address at a particular time period.
The music industry is also continuing to explore efforts to exploit the market for legitimate online sales of music. Apple’s iTune service has reportedly been very successful. For the many users of peer-to-peer networks, the ability to quickly locate and download music at a reasonable cost will likely provide the best incentive to go legit.
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