RIAA ISSUES NEW SUITS

Claiming success in its battle to shift consumers’ perceptions about downloading, the RIAA stepped up its legal assault against unauthorized online file-sharing on 12/3, filing 41 new lawsuits and sending out 90 notification letters to potential defendants.

The industry organization claims it has reached settlements with 220 targets of litigation efforts—though it declined to name amounts awarded—and that 1,054 “former file sharers” have opted for the RIAA’s “Clean Slate” amnesty program.

Meanwhile, the trade group is trumpeting a new survey from Peter D. Hart Research Associates that suggests a growing awareness that illicit file swapping is a moral cancer destroying the fabric of our society.

OK, maybe that’s a bit strong. Actually, 64% of the November poll’s 802 respondents over age 10 “understand it’s illegal to ‘make music from the computer available for others to download for free over the Internet’,” as it's rather awkwardly phrased in the release. That’s up from 37% at the same time last year.

Of course, it isn’t necessarily illegal to make music from the computer available for others to download for free over the Internet. Many independent artists have given P2P file sharing their blessing, and certainly copyright owners themselves are free to distribute the music in any way they see fit. But never mind about that.

The poll concludes that regular Internet users have an even greater awareness of the issue, and also that support for the industry’s legal onslaught has grown. Indeed, the Hart report claims that Americans support the litigation by more than a 2-1 ratio, with an overwhelming majority believing that strong legal downloading alternatives now exist.