Recording Biz Files More Lawsuits

(Los Angeles, CA) The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has started focusing their legal assault on computer users swapping music files over university networks. On Tuesday, the RIAA filed "John Doe" complaints to sue 89 individuals using university computer networks in ten states.

With the "John Doe" lawsuits, the recording industry must work through the courts to find out the identities of the defendants, which at the outset are identified only by the numeric Internet protocol addresses assigned to computers online.

The defendants, which the trade group claims offered "substantial amounts" of music files, face potential civil penalties or settlements that could cost them thousands of dollars. Settlements in previous cases have averaged $3,000 each.

Additionally, 443 lawsuits were filed against users on commercial Internet access providers in five states. With the recent filings, the recording industry has now sued almost 2,000 people for online music piracy, with approximately 400 settling out of court.

So far, the RIAA legal assault seems to be primarily a public relations ploy since $3,000 settlements are probably not substantial enough to do anything more than pay their legal bills, if that. It does, however, remind the public, along with institutions, that piracy is illegal and may help in mitigating the extent of the piracy.