Recording industry to cut back on lawsuits

Jammie Thomas of Brainerd, Minn., left, leaves the federal courthouse with her attorney, Brian Toder of Minneapolis after the jury returned a verdict against her on the third and final day of her civil trial for alleged music pirating through illegal sharing of song files in Duluth, Minn., Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007. She was the defendant in a Recording Industry Association of America lawsuit. Thomas and Toder left without speaking to the press. Photo by Julia Cheng for Associated Press less Jammie Thomas of Brainerd, Minn., left, leaves the federal courthouse with her attorney, Brian Toder of Minneapolis after the jury returned a verdict against her on the third and final day of her civil trial ... more Photo: Julia Cheng, AP Photo: Julia Cheng, AP Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Recording industry to cut back on lawsuits 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Recording Industry Association of America said Friday that it will cut back on lawsuits to combat illegal online music sharing because it has enlisted leading Internet service providers to discipline individuals it accuses of pirating copyrighted works.

The trade association said certain Internet carriers, which it did not name, have agreed in principle to impose escalating penalties on customers who ignore repeated warnings that they are breaking the law by distributing free songs. The association is negotiating for sanctions that could include the suspension or permanent termination of Internet service.

Digital rights groups rejoiced over the recording association's announcement that it will limit its long-running campaign of legal action against individuals such as college students, who often were pressured to pay thousands of dollars to settle the lawsuits.

But the consumer groups said Internet service providers should not be cast in the role of "copyright cops" who can cut off online access based only on industry accusations that are never put to the test in court.

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"In the 21st century, the idea that we're going to ban people from the Internet based on unproven allegations is troubling," said Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Such measures could hamstring a person's participation in school, on the job and as a citizen, he said. "Even if you're guilty, is a ban from the Internet really an appropriate punishment?"

Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the recording association, said a process will be developed for users who feel they've been wrongly accused. As to penalties such as suspended access, he said, Internet providers already forbid their customers to use the service for illegal purposes. "We're only asking them to enforce their own terms of service," Lamy said.

Record companies and their representatives have been battling free song sharing since their 1999 lawsuit against Napster, a San Mateo company whose software made it possible to trade MP3 files between individual computers. Napster shut down its service, but new online sites such as LimeWire and Gnutella eventually took its place. The industry claims that an explosion of illicit online file sharing has undermined its profits by hurting CD sales. In 2007, U.S. album sales fell 9.5 percent from the previous year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The music trade association said New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is helping the industry develop an alternative to its mass courtroom campaign by promoting its talks with Internet providers. Those companies have often found themselves in the middle of the music-sharing wars because they have been forced by subpoena to disclose the names of customers whose computers were used to swap songs online.

While the recording industry group said it will now file fewer lawsuits, it reserves the right to sue Internet users who ignore repeated warnings sent by their service providers. The group has no plans to drop lawsuits already filed. Record companies also will vigorously enforce copyright laws against Web-based sites that foster illegal music sharing, the association said.

But von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said online music swapping will simply flow into other channels, such as social networking sites. He favors new systems that make it legal to download songs, such as the iTunes service. One solution that the recording industry has shown some willingness to consider, he said, is a blanket licensing fee of a few dollars a month. Music fans would then be free to get their songs anywhere they liked, and the license proceeds would be distributed to musicians or their record labels.