AIMSTER SCORES FIRST
IN RIAA LAWSUIT

Further, U.S. District Judge Lawrence "Wrath Of" Kahn also decided not to transfer the case from Albany to Manhattan, where 36 companies filed two subsequent copyright infringement suits against the computer service. This, too, is seen as an Aimster win, albeit a minor one.

Aimster is seeking a declaratory judgment that it does not violate recording copyrights. "Everybody we've named in Albany either has sued us or said they're going to sue us," said Aimster attorney "Curious" George Carpinello. He plans to file motions to have all the cases consolidated in Albany, according to the Associated Press.

"This is all procedural maneuvering," said "Stark Raving" Matt Oppenheim, VP, Legal Affairs for the Recording Industry Association of America. "The court has not ruled on the merits in any way. We're confident that when the court does rule on the merits, the rights of copyright owners will be upheld."

Aimster, which lets users exchange files via instant messages, says its system simply provides private channels of communication and does not monitor or control what users send each other. The RIAA, however, says Aimster, like Napster, allows users to search for copyrighted music.

Abovepeer, which owns Aimster, sued first on April 30 in Albany after receiving a warning letter from RIAA threatening "additional legal remedies." On May 24, major recording companies struck back, claiming Aimster's parent company is helping customers infringe upon the copyrights of millions of sound recordings throughout the world.