According to Cary Sherman, President of the RIAA, the lawsuits
"are an important part of the larger strategy to educate file
sharers about the law, protect the rights of copyright owners and
encourage music fans to turn to these legitimate services."
"It's important for everyone to understand that no one is immune
from the consequences of illegally 'sharing' music files on P2P
networks," added Sherman. "Piracy, which is particularly rampant on
college campuses, continues to hurt retailers, musicians,
producers, record labels and the thousands of less-celebrated
individuals involved in making music."
The bulk of the actions, including all of those announced
yesterday, are "John Doe" lawsuits, which are used to sue
defendants whose names are not known.
The RIAA is only able to identify file-swappers by their
Internet Protocol addresses (their numerical computer address), and
since December has been forced to obtain court-approved subpoenas
before ISPs are obliged to reveal the identities of their
file-sharing clients.
This is the third batch of "John Doe" actions to be filed and,
according to the RIAA, the earlier suits are progressing
nicely.
All four courts involved in the first round of litigation have
granted the record companies' preliminary request to issue
subpoenas to ISPs to learn the identity of illegal file
sharers.
The record companies plan to send letters to identified
individuals offering to settle with them before litigation goes any
further. If an illegal file sharer rejects the settlement overture,
the record companies will proceed with litigation against that
individual.
For the second round of suits brought in February, courts in
Georgia and New Jersey have approved the RIAA's motion to begin
issuing subpoenas. A court in Florida has requested additional
briefing. In Philadelphia, the RIAA is asking the court to
reconsider an initial decision that the RIAA needed to file
individual complaints for each illegal file sharer.
