Recording Industry Targets Kazaa Users
AP to My Yahoo!
By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer
LOS ANGELES - The recording industry has tapped into
two Internet file-swapping services and is flashing
messages to music traders warning them they're
breaking the law.
"COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT WARNING," the message reads.
"When you break the law, you risk legal penalties.
There is a simple way to avoid that risk: DON'T STEAL
MUSIC."
At the same time, the industry is collecting the user
names of people suspected of illegally offering
copyright material with the file-sharing services
Kazaa and Grokster, but it doesn't intend to pursue
legal action, said Recording Industry Association of
America (news - web sites) President Cary Sherman.
Sherman, who announced the effort Tuesday, called it
"educational" and said "there's no enforcement
connected to this."
Kazaa owner Sharman Networks likened the RIAA campaign
to spam meant to confuse users. Grokster Ltd.
President Wayne Rosso called it "a death rattle."
"It doesn't bother us, because we are very
anti-copyright infringement anyway," Rosso said. "They
think they're harassing us. No. What they're doing is
declaring war on our users."
The tactic is the latest in the industry's battle to
curb the illegal duplication of copyright works, which
it blames for a drop off in compact disk sales.
Last week, the industry lost a court battle against
file-sharing services after a judge ruled that
Grokster and StreamCast Networks Inc. are not
responsible for illegal copying by their users. A
similar lawsuit against Kazaa is pending.
Media analysts estimate that as many as 61 million
Americans use Internet services such as Kazaa and
Grokster to download copyright material.
The peer-to-peer software allows users to search other
users' computers for song, movie and other types of
files. It also allows users to contact each other
through a text messaging feature.
Unlike Napster (news - web sites), the pioneer
file-sharing service ordered shut by the courts,
Grokster and StreamCast say they only provide software
and technical assistance rather than actually hosting
users' files on servers.
The RIAA was able to find Grokster and Kazaa users'
screen names through a computer application designed
to work with the peer-to-peer software that allows
automated searches of 100-200 of the most popular or
most traded song titles on the services.
The message the RIAA sent warns users that they are
not anonymous, can be easily identified and are at
risk for legal penalties. It suggests the user disable
the file-swapping software.
Grokster, based in Nevis, West Indies, will not try to
block the RIAA from contacting its users, Rosso said.
He said users that want to stop the messages can
change their software settings to block text messages.
The RIAA, meanwhile, plans to send out about 1 million
messages per week, Sherman said.
Only Kazaa and Grokster users who have their
peer-to-peer software set for file sharing are being
targeted at this point, he said. No decision has been
made on whether to expand the campaign to users of
other file-sharing services, Sherman said.
In a separate action, the RIAA has sued four college
students who allegedly offered more than 1 million
recordings over the Internet, demanding damages of
$150,000 per song.
____
On the Net:
Recording Industry Association of America:
http://www.riaa.org/
Kazaa.com: http://www.kazaa.com/us/index.php
Grokster.com: http://www.grokster.com
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Recording Industry Targets Kazaa Users
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