RIAA Hopes New Judge will Nab Sharers

The ongoing saga regarding the Recording Industry Association of America and what is classified as sharing music has taken another interesting twist as the group has refiled one particular lawsuit.

It was late last year when the RIAA got stricter about file-sharing, claiming the act of making files available for sharing (via a "shared" folder) breaks copyright laws and is available for prosecution.

The pending lawsuits about this unique file-distribution models were shut down after U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake said that making copyrighted material available via a shared folder does not warrant a copyright infringement lawsuit and that the RIAA must prove that the material actually changed hands.

The recent news is that the RIAA has dropped a case that strongly pertains to the "making available" clause, and refiled the case. Rather that directing the lawsuit at the same defendants as before, the RIAA directed it at John Doe (a defendant to be identified later), therefore obtaining a new judge ... who may not be so strict about the "making available" clauses.

Nice move, RIAA.

Comments

I hate to be a downer for the RIAA, but isn't this illegal and akin to the 'forum shopping' that the Supreme Court has ALREADY said that they are not too thrilled about?

Lerianis

June 17, 2008

2:48 AM PT

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