The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has
recently intensified the pressure in its campaigns on peer-to-peer
(P2P) services.
In the last month the RIAA has won and lost its share of
courtroom battles.
First, Verizon, was ordered to reveal the identity of two of its
ISP customers that the RIAA plans to sue for using P2P services to
infringe copyrights.
Then it lost a case over Grokster and Morpheus, P2P service
providers, when a court ruled that they should not be shut down
because their software could be used for lawful purposes as well as
unlawful purposes.
Meanwhile, it had sued four college students who allegedly made
available over 1 million songs for downloading from a campus
service. It sought damages of up to $150,000 per song; but settled
last week with the students agreeing to pay sums of between $12,000
and $17,500 each by instalments payable over the next three
years.
Last Tuesday the RIAA began using instant messaging (IM) to warn
song-swappers that they were acting illegally. This follows a
period of targeting universities, by contacting college
administrations daily with details of infringing students,
persuading at least one college to ban P2P use by students.
Now, according to the New York Times, some of the biggest names
in the record industry are financing software programs that may
slow down or sabotage the computers of people indulging in
copyright infringement. Full details were not revealed.
The question of sabotaging the PCs of file-sharers has been
discussed before. In October 2001, lobbyists representing the RIAA
hoped to make it legal for copyright owners to hack into computer
networks in search of copyright infringing material and to destroy
any such material found. They did not succeed.
In June last year, US Congressman Howard Berman announced plans
for controversial new legislation to address copyright infringement
on P2P networks. He proposed that: "Copyright owners could employ a
variety of technological tools to prevent the illegal distribution
of copyrighted works over a P2P network - tools such as
interdiction, decoys, redirection, file-blocking, and spoofs." His
controversial bill has not yet been passed.
