RIAA SUES ISPS
The RIAA alleges the ISPs’ routing systems allow users to access the China-based Listen4ever.com website and unlawfully copy musical recordings.
The copyright infringement suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, seeks a court order requiring the defendants to block Internet communications that travel through their systems to and from the Listen4ever site. The suit says the plaintiffs have not been able to determine who owns the website.
Plaintiffs in the suit include all five major labels. Defendants in the suit are AT&T Broadband Corp., a unit of AT&T ; Cable & Wireless USA, a unit of Cable & Wireless, Sprint Corp., Advanced Network Services and UUNET Technologies, a unit of WorldCom.
The suit alleges that the Listen4ever site enables Internet users to download music from a centralized location containing thousands of files. This allows them to make unlawful copies of as many recordings as they choose.
The suit says that Listen4ever uses offshore servers located in the People's Republic of China to host the website through which the illegal copying occurs.
The RIAA alleges that Listen4ever provides its services to Internet users in the United States through backbone routers owned and operated by the defendants.
According to the suit, the artists whose works are being unlawfully copied and distributed through Listen4ever are: Christina Aguilera, Bruce Springsteen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eric Clapton, Barbara Streisand, Lenny Kravitz and Whitney Houston.
