Post by Drew on Dec 23, 2003 20:48:36 GMT -5
Doug Isenburg from CNET writes:
"Illegal music file sharing continues
The music industry ends 2003 on a down note, losing a significant procedural fight in its attempt to pursue individuals who engage in illegal file sharing. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) could not use a process under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to obtain the name of a customer of Verizon Internet Services suspected of sharing about 800 sound files.
In June, the RIAA announced that it would begin filing lawsuits against hundreds of individuals, a tactic that scared many people away from the illegal practice and resulted in quick settlements with many of the defendants. But because the lawsuits relied on the DMCA's subpoena process, the RIAA will now find it more difficult to identify defendants.
Although the ruling says nothing about the substantive issue of file sharing, which overwhelmingly remains illegal, the Verizon case was the music industry's second big loss of the year. In April, a federal district court judge in California ruled against a number of movie and recording studios in their copyright infringement lawsuit against Grokster and StreamCast.
Unlike in the earlier Napster litigation, where the music industry won every legal round, the court in this case saw a distinction between centralized and decentralized file-sharing services. Grokster and StreamCast escaped liability because, the court said, they did not actively facilitate and could not stop their users' infringing activity.
Despite these legal setbacks, the music industry can take some consolation in the fact that legal, fee-based online music services finally took off in 2003, led by Apple Computer's popular iTunes and Roxio's new version of Napster. While these easy-to-use, inexpensive services likely won't end illegal music file sharing, they should help minimize the damage. "
news.com.com/2010-1028-5131781.html