The Recording Industry Association of America renewed its campaign against Internet music swappers despite a December court ruling that could hamper the speed and tenacity of industry efforts.
The recording association filed four lawsuits in federal courts in New York City and Washington, D.C. yesterday, accusing 532 Internet users of swapping copyrighted music online, according to the Washington Post.
This new strategy that identifies users only by their IP address was characterized by University Law Prof. Timothy Wu as "unusual," and comes on the heels of a significant legal defeat last month.
On Dec. 19, the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. ruled that the RIAA does not have the power to subpoena the names of Verizon consumers who trade files online under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Previously, under their interpretation of the 1998 statute, the national recording association believed that it could use subpoenas to gather the names of users from Internet service providers based on their IP address before initiating a lawsuit. Verizon had refused to respond to the subpoenas.
In response to this decision in the RIAA v. Verizon Internet Services Inc. case, RIAA filed "John Doe" cases yesterday that use IP addresses to identify the user.
Now, the recording industry is hoping to uncover the names of users during court proceedings, according to University Law Prof. Thomas Nachbar.
"By and large, this is the type of information that will not be hard to get once a case is in place," Nachbar said. "There's no doubt that [the name of the user will be released under court order]. It doesn't take that much to get that type of subpoena."
After obtaining the name of the user, Nachbar speculated that the RIAA would attempt to make a settlement similar to those reached with other users.
Wu was not as sure of eventual industry success in gathering the names of users through court subpoenas.
"If they win, they'll have a new tool in their bag," Wu said. "If they lose, they'll be in a pickle."
Wu asserted that the new strategy essentially is a gamble for the industry.
"It's a novel legal strategy," he said. "They are trying to get around the Internet service providers."
This second wave of legal maneuverings, which only requires clearing another easily-surmountable hurdle, according to Nachbar, continues a tidal wave of court filings begun last fall.
RIAA had filed 382 lawsuits against suspected file sharers last year and reached 233 private settlements.
The Verizon decision seemingly represented only a bump in the road for an industry association committed to stamping out file sharing of copyrighted material.
In a press release following the decision reached in December, the RIAA claimed the reversal would not deter them from prosecuting file sharers.
The release stated, "This is a disappointing procedural decision, but it only changes the process by which we will file lawsuits against online infringers. This decision in no way changes our right to sue, or the fact that those who upload or download copyrighted music without authorization are engaging in illegal activity"
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