The file-swapping service provided by Aimster has been sued by
seven major movie studios, including Columbia, Paramount, Disney
and 20th Century Fox, for alleged breaches of copyright. This
follows earlier legal action brought against the file-swapping
service by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA).
Unlike Napster, which allows users to swap only MP3 music files
stored on their computers, Aimster users can swap any type of file.
The downloading of files containing movies is tends to be extremely
slow on all but the fastest internet connections, but the movie
studios recognise the threat when connections improve. They allege
that many infringements of copyright have already taken place,
albeit the numbers are small compared to those concerning the music
industry.
The latest action appears as a pre-emptive strike against the
potential for improved file sharing technology to damage the film
industry. The studios are looking for compensation from Aimster of
$150,000 for every alleged copyright breach that has occurred. At
the same time, several of the main movie studios are reported to be
developing their own internet based film distribution services.
