We Share w/ You

The Wall Street Journal reported December 19, 2008 that the Recording Industry Association of America had reported that the group stopped filing mass lawsuits in the the fall and would take on another strategy that involved the monitoring of IP addresses and a systems of warnings.

It has been reported, however, that this may not be so.

On Recording Industry vs. The People there are more than 36 new filings listed that were filed days before the release of the December 19 WSJ story.

The same information was reported on The Associate Press, “The association said Friday that it stopped sending out new lawsuits and warnings in August, and then agreed with several leading U.S. Internet service providers, without naming which ones, to notify alleged illegal file-sharers and cut off service if they failed to stop.”

More than 35,000 suits have been brought against consumers who have downloaded music on P2P networks. The industry claims that record companies have had enormous losses due to illegal downloading resulting in lost jobs, less new bands on the roster, and a decline in record sales. Culprits have included single moms, teenagers, and a few reported deceased individuals. Most defendants settle out of court rather than incur legal expenses, resulting in record companies collecting up to 1000 times the actual damages of the “theft” they claim as the result of the download.

Disclaimer: The above content is for a full conversation and does not disclose the opinion of Core One Creative.