Sony Music Entertainment Inc and 12 other record labels are asking a judge to order four Internet service providers to block access to a China-based Web site that offers free downloads of popular music.
The labels want a federal judge to bar units of AT&T Corp, Cable & Wireless Plc, Sprint Corp and WorldCom Inc. from providing access to the Listen4ever Web site. The plaintiffs -- including Vivendi Universal SA's UMG Recordings Inc and Bertelsmann AG's RCA Records -- say the site is "even more egregious" than the music-sharing site once run by Napster Inc.
The copyright suit marks the first time that the labels have sought to stop Internet providers from supplying access to such a Web site. They've previously sued the Web sites themselves, last year winning an order barring Napster from distributing copyrighted songs for free over the Internet.
"By disabling the connections that allow users' computers in the United States to communicate with Listen4ever's services in China, defendants can significantly diminish the continued illegal copying and distribution of plaintiffs' sound recordings," the record companies say in a complaint filed today in New York.
Listen4ever isn't named as a defendant in the lawsuit. AT&T Broadband spokeswoman Sarah Eder said the company was reviewing the suit and declined to comment. A Sprint spokesman didn't have an immediate comment. Sudie Noland, a spokeswoman for WorldCom's UUNet Technologies, also declined to comment.
The labels say the Listen4ever site can be easily accessed by software that comes pre-packaged on most computers. At any given time, thousands of songs are available on the site, including works by Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Coldplay, and Christina Aguilera, they say.
Mary Blige's most recent album, "Dance for Me," was available on the site before it was released to stores on Aug. 13, the labels say.
The record companies say the only information they have about Listen4ever is that the domain name appears to have been registered in Tianjin, China, and that the company's computer servers are located there.
"Listen4ever's evasive behavior clearly indicates its desire to continue operating beyond the practical reach of US law," the labels say.
Earlier this month, the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the recording industry, asked the Internet providers to block access to Listen4ver servers in China, the suit says.
The Internet service providers "in essence responded that they were reluctant to block communication to and from the Listen4ever site traveling over their networks simply at the request of RIAA, but would of course comply with a court order," the record companies say.
The labels claim a 1998 law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, anticipates such a situation and gives them the right to an injunction blocking access. Without it, they say, thousands of songs will flow freely over the Internet, denying the labels and their artists profits from their music.
Sony Music Entertainment is a unit of Tokyo-based Sony Corp.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS