RIAA floods U.S. District Court with file-sharing subpoenas

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 09:34:59 -0400
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: FW: RIAA floods U.S. District Court with file-sharing subpoenas


I smell an ulterior motive here; overwhelm the courts with lawsuits against
individuals to get court officials complaining about heavy workloads...thus
getting Congress to pass even stronger legislation, which the RIAA will
gleefully welcome. 

-rf


RIAA floods U.S. District Court with file-sharing subpoenas

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By Ted Bridis

July 18, 2003  |  WASHINGTON (AP) --

The music industry has issued at least 871 federal subpoenas against
computer users this month suspected of illegally sharing music files on the
Internet, with roughly 75 new subpoenas being approved each day, U.S. court
officials said Friday.

The effort represents early steps in the music industry's contentious plan
to file civil lawsuits aimed at crippling online piracy.

Subpoenas reviewed by The Associated Press show the industry compelling some
of the largest Internet providers, such as Verizon Communications Inc. and
Comcast Cable Communications Inc., and some universities to provide names
and mailing addresses for users on their networks known online by nicknames
such as "fox3j," "soccerdog33," "clover77" or "indepunk74."

The Recording Industry Association of America has said it expects to file at
least several hundred lawsuits seeking financial damages within the next
eight weeks. U.S. copyright laws allow for damages of $750 to $150,000 for
each song offered illegally on a person's computer, but the RIAA has said it
would be open to settlement proposals from defendants.


< snip >

http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2003/07/18/riaa/index.html


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