The music industry said Wednesday it filed another 532 lawsuits against people suspected of unauthorized song swapping, stepping up its campaign against online piracy.
The new effort marked an escalation of the lawsuit effort by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents major music labels and had up to now filed 382 lawsuits.
But because of a recent appeals court ruling in favor of Internet service providers refusing to turn over names of suspected music pirates, the RIAA was forced to file its complaints against unknown "John Doe" defendants and go to court to determine their names.
The lawsuits identify the defendants by their numerical computer address, known as an IP, or Internet Protocol, address.
"Our campaign against illegal file sharers is not missing a beat," said RIAA president Cary Sherman. "The message to illegal file sharers should be as clear as ever: We can and will continue to bring lawsuits on a regular basis against those who illegally distribute copyrighted music."
The RIAA suffered a setback Dec. 19, when a US appeals court ruled that telecommunications giant Verizon was not required to disclose the identity of suspected music pirates.
The appeals court in Washington overturned a Jan. 29 federal judge's order for the telecom group and Internet provider to reveal the identity of one of its customers to the RIAA.
The RIAA had used a provision in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act to require the disclosure of the identity of a customer suspected of downloading at least 600 songs in a day.
As a result of the court ruling, the RIAA said it was unable to notify suspected file sharers and offer them an opportunity to settle the matter before a lawsuit is filed.
But Sherman said the RIAA -- which represents the interests of top labels, including Universal Music, Sony, Warner, EMI and BMG -- would still attempt to reach out-of-court settlements with those who are interested.
"We intend to continue to offer illegal file sharers an opportunity to settle," Sherman said. "Our enforcement program has been ongoing for many months, and awareness that this activity is illegal has skyrocketed. Illegal file sharers cannot so easily claim ignorance now."
Sherman said the lawsuits are proceeding as new, legal music downloading gains prominence. Over the past year, legal music-downloading sites have been launched by Apple Computer, Wal-Mart and others.
"Continuing this education and enforcement campaign is critical to fostering an environment where both legal online music services and traditional retail outlets can flourish," said Sherman. "Virtually every week, we see evidence that the music community's anti-piracy program is having its intended effect. Awareness and legal downloads are up, while many analysts are finding that file sharing is down."
But critics of the music industry effort said the campaign is still turning off music lovers and fails to recognize new technology.
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