RIAA president offers details on most-recent batch of lawsuits

by Kari Bellingham, Deputy News Editor
March 25, 2004

Students sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegal file-sharing may be forced to pay fines ranging from $750 per download up to a total of $150,000, according to RIAA president Cary Sherman in an online chat with college journalists Wednesday night.

Sherman addressed reporters two days after the RIAA filed a new batch of lawsuits against 532 file sharers, including 89 college students at 21 universities across the nation. Sherman emphasized that college students are a "big part of the problem" in illegal file sharing and thus will be prosecuted accordingly.

"We hope that it will send a message to students across the country that this activity is illegal and that engaging in it can have consequences," Sherman said.

Sherman said while the RIAA examines each case individually, the average amount file-sharers in the 400 cases settled so far have paid in damages has been approximately $3,000. All of the cases the RIAA has filed thus far have been settled out of court. Sherman said the RIAA is not filing these lawsuits to obtain money but rather to force illegal file sharers to realize that they are breaking the law and will be prosecuted for doing so.

"We have precipitated a national conversation about the impact of illegal downloading, which wasn't occurring before," Sherman said. "People didn't think twice about what they were doing. Now they are far more likely to at least think about the impact of their actions. That's a major step forward."

Sherman also said file-sharers targeted by the RIAA's lawsuits are chosen based on the number of files they have downloaded. He said the more downloads an individual has on their computer, the greater the chance they will be prosecuted. In this round of lawsuits, defendants had an average of 837 downloads, according to Sherman.

He also said while the RIAA is not targeting specific universities, they are filing cases in different jurisdictions across the nation in order to make the litigation process as efficient as possible.

The RIAA's "program" of filing lawsuits against illegal file-sharers is ongoing, according to Sherman, and will not end with the settlement of the current cases. He said the group is determined to achieve justice for the music industry.

"We felt we could not stand by and watch while an entire industry ? the most vibrant music industry in the world ? was being downloaded to death," Sherman said.

University of Wisconsin senior Ali Hassan said despite the RIAA's lawsuits, he still obtains files online. However, he does not share his files and mostly uses lesser-known file-sharing programs to acquire music that is difficult to find elsewhere.

He said while the RIAA lawsuits have only marginally affected his downloading habits, he thinks a large portion of the general population may stop downloading because of the lawsuits.

"Most people will fall for the scare tactics," Hassan said, adding he feels as long as individuals are careful about their downloading habits, they will not likely be a target of the lawsuits.

While Sherman admits the RIAA's actions may not be popular among college students, he said a recent poll performed by Peter Hart Associates showed 56 percent of the public are "supportive and understanding" of the lawsuits, along with 50 percent of students.

Sherman said the results of the lawsuits have been worth the effort.

"We've seen a marked decline in illegal file-sharing, a marked increase in business at the legitimate online music services and a spike in CD sales as well," Sherman said. "Frankly, the program has been more successful than most people would have predicted."

Source:
http://www.badgerherald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/03/25/4062680999b8e

You know what Cary? Nobody gives a shit. We shall continue downloading what the hell we want and you can carry on sueing as much as you like. It won't make any difference. We will just use more secure means to do so.

"The tighter you squeeze the more we will slip through your fingers"

Sherman also said file-sharers targeted by the RIAA's lawsuits are chosen based on the number of files they have downloaded. He said the more downloads an individual has on their computer, the greater the chance they will be prosecuted. In this round of lawsuits, defendants had an average of 837 downloads, according to Sherman.

You mean, had available for download, they're not suing anyone as far as i know thats only downloading.

"We felt we could not stand by and watch while an entire industry - the most vibrant music industry in the world - was being downloaded to death," Sherman said.

a) Define "vibrant"

b) Embrace file sharing or die.

"Sherman also said file-sharers targeted by the RIAA's lawsuits are chosen based on the number of files they have downloaded."

This is certainly bad news for Apple, RealNetworks, Napster, MusicMatch and all of the other so-called "legal" sites.

George, I sent you an email this morning.
~Code

"We've seen a marked decline in illegal file-sharing

don't know what he's smoking. he's certinly not listening to the companies he hires to track the numbers

"We hope that it will send a message to students across the country that this activity is illegal and that engaging in it can have consequences," Sherman said.

Yup. it'll have consequences. The labels are gonna keep losing money 'cuz CD sales are gonna continue to drop due to the lawsuits.

And compmore: I read the other day that DLing increase 24%. I'd like to know how they get their numbers. too!

His figures seem to be off a bit. Our server stats do not indicate any dropoff of leechers. Our bandwidth is consistantly being maxxed out to support the tunes that those logged in wish to hear. Our secondary server hasn't had any idle time in 3 weeks now. Cary is obviously smoking something...

Various IRC channels which I lurk on do not show any signs of any sort of drop off; or low usage of downloading. The Xdcc bots which I enjoy leeching from are also not showing any usage dropoffs in their published status that the post from time to time.

Unless it's a huge conspiracy and everyone I'm in contact with (including our own servers) is/are fudging status logs, mr Cary is way off the mark. Atleast from an IRC, FTP perspective; his lawsuits have only brought up slight conversation and an occasional joke about p2p users.

As I know many of you are p2p users, I won't share those jokes here; less I offend anyone.

Regards,
Raid

"the RIAA is not filing these lawsuits to obtain money..." - Cary (Sue) Sherman
Bull shit, the entire reason they are sueing p2p users is so they can extort money from them.

The RIAA isn't getting its point across, and we are all still using p2p netwroks becasue they are perfectly legal, but i no longer waste my bandwith, hard drive space, or time downloading or listening to RIAA content. RIAA content has been banished from my hard drives, i will never again listen to an RIAA 'artist' ever again, ha ha ha ha....

RIAA you have just lost another potential coustomer. (well that was if they would ever clean up their act, now there is no way i'll have anything to do with their crappy content)

nlm mln @ RIAA

"he said a recent poll performed by Peter Hart Associates showed 56 percent of the public are "supportive and understanding" of the lawsuits, along with 50 percent of students."

I don't know how legit this Peter Hart poll is, but I'll bet the percentage of folks who DON'T realize how long the life of a copyright is today is much much higher than 56 percent.

I think we still have a lot of educating to do.

George, you forgot Wal- I mean, China*Mart or Hel-Mart.

Sherman needs to shut his mouth. Every time he opens it, another lie comes out. He must be using camouflage to hide that nose of his from public view, because it grows with every sentence he says. Pinocchio has competiton.

:-:~ Phantom

"He said the group is determined to achieve justice for the music industry."

Justice? JUSTICE?? Let's talk about justice! How is it that you charge $20 for a CD that has only one or two good songs on it and then say that we're stealing? How much are you making per CD as compared to the artist? It's the consumer who needs justice!