HERE THEY GO AGAIN: RIAA BACK ON THE OFFENSIVE
The trade org, representing the major labels, announced a new round of lawsuits against 750 more individuals who allegedly took the tags off their mattresses.
The new “John Doe” suits filed today cite individuals for "illegally distributing copyrighted music on the Internet via unauthorized peer-to-peer services such as LimeWire and Kazaa" and for "downloading shlock from Air Supply and Englebert Humperdinck." In addition to these litigations, the major music companies filed lawsuits earlier this month against 112 named defendants in California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin.
RIAA President Cary Sherman, before announcing he'd be sending troops into the affected areas to secure order, commented: “While the music companies continue to innovate and develop new digital ways to offer music to fans, we will do our part to hold illegal downloaders accountable. Prosecuting songlifting is integral to helping protect the ability of record companies to invest in the up-and-coming bands of tomorrow and level the playing field for legal online services. The illegal downloading of music is just as wrong as shoplifting from a local store. It's against the law, and breaking the law must carry consequences. And no, I don't give a damn what Lefsetz says.”
Lawsuits were filed in Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California; Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Miami, and Pensacola, Florida; Atlanta and Newnan, Georgia; Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and Rock Island, Iowa; Evansville, Indianapolis, and Terre Haute, Indiana; Boston and Worchester, Massachusetts; Baltimore and Greenbelt, Maryland; Ann Arbor, Bay City, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Marquette, Michigan; Brooklyn, Central Islip, New York, and White Plains, New York; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Columbia, Florence, Greenville, and Spartanburg, South Carolina; Abilene, Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, Galveston, Houston, Midland, San Angelo, San Antonio, and Waco, Texas; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
