IM applications are freely available and popular among internet
users as an alternative to e-mail, the advantage being that short
messages are sent and received instantly
On Tuesday the music industry body sent over 200,000 instant
messages to users of the Grokster and Kazaa file sharing services.
It claims to have software that tracks the swapping of
copyright-protected material. Cary Sherman, President of the RIAA,
said that millions more messages will be sent out over the coming
weeks.
"It seemed like a very logical way to reach your target
audience," said Sherman. "We can take out ads and do videos on web
sites, but you don't know whether you're hitting the right people.
When you send an IM to someone offering music files at the time the
music files are being offered, saying what they're doing may be
illegal, it's the best way to target the message."
The RIAA's message was blunt:
"COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT WARNING: It appears
that you are offering copyrighted music to others from your
computer. Distributing or downloading copyrighted music on the
internet without permission from the copyright owner is ILLEGAL. It
hurts songwriters who create and musicians who perform the music
you love, and all the other people who bring you music.
"When you break the law, you risk legal
penalties. There is a simple way to avoid that risk: DON'T STEAL
MUSIC, either by offering it to others to copy or downloading it on
a 'file-sharing' system like this."
The campaign comes a week after a federal court ruled that the
companies behind Grokster and Morpheus, another P2P service, cannot
be held liable for copyright infringements by their users.
According to Reuters, Sherman was concerned that some P2P users
might have interpreted the decision as legalising file sharing. But
he stressed that the timing was coincidental and that the IM
campaign had been planned long ago.
