The recording industry sued 532 people, including scores of individuals using computer networks at 21 universities, claiming they were illegally sharing digital music files over the Internet.
This latest wave of copyright lawsuits brought by the Recording Industry Association of America on behalf of recording companies marks the first time the trade group has targeted computer users swapping music files over university networks.
While the trade group sued four college students last year, those suits alleged the students were operating file-sharing hubs that made available tens of thousands of songs to others. The users targeted in Tuesday's slate of suits are accused of swapping music on peer-to-peer networks.
The RIAA filed the "John Doe" complaints against 89 individuals using networks at universities in states including Arizona, California, Virginia, New York, Indiana, Maryland, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin as well as the District of Columbia.
Lawsuits against 443 people using commercial Internet access providers were also filed in California, Colorado, Missouri, Texas and Virginia. The recording group did not name which Internet access providers the defendants were using. In all, 27 lawsuits were filed, RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said.
In "John Doe" lawsuits, the recording industry must work through the courts to find out the identities of the defendants, which at the outset are only identified by the numeric Internet protocol addresses assigned to computers online.
The defendants, which the trade group claims offered "substantial amounts" of music files, face potential civil penalties or settlements that could cost them thousands of dollars. Settlements in previous cases have averaged US$3,000 each.
"We are sending a clear message that downloading or `sharing' music from a peer-to-peer network without authorization is illegal, it can have consequences and it undermines the creative future of music itself," RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a statement.
The recording industry blames lagging music sales in recent years on the rise of online music piracy. File-sharing has become a popular pastime on college campuses, and pressure is intensifying on schools to be vigilant to copyright infringement occurring over their computer networks.
Last year, Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology fought recording industry subpoenas seeking the identities of four students who were suspected of illegal file-sharing over a commercial online service.
The court ultimately sided with the universities, on the grounds that the subpoenas, which were issued in Washington, could not be served in Massachusetts.
Experts say some universities might decide to test the legality of the recording industry subpoenas this time. But the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act only requires universities to give notice to their students before releasing their information, it doesn't prohibit them from doing so, said Evan Cox, a copyright attorney in San Francisco.
John Chandler, a spokesman for California State University, Northridge, one of the schools where the RIAA said it discovered computer users engaging in online piracy, said the university hasn't been asked for any names.
"Cal State Northridge has never been subpoenaed in connection with the RIAA, so we don't have any past history with that," Chandler said. "If and when we were to receive a subpoena, we would review that with our legal counsel and make a determination."
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique