RIAA Tired After 5 Years Of Failure. Goes To The ISPs For Help

• It’s official, the RIAA is tired of suing illegal downloaders. The organization that has been patrolling the industry for the last 5 years now wants to put the ISP’s in charge, because they couldn’t make a difference. The WSJ reports:

The decision represents an abrupt shift of strategy for the industry, which has opened legal proceedings against about 35,000 people since 2003. Critics say the legal offensive ultimately did little to stem the tide of illegally downloaded music. And it created a public-relations disaster for the industry, whose lawsuits targeted, among others, several single mothers, a dead person and a 13-year-old girl.

• The RIAA will now provide the ISPs with information (IP addresses) identifying accounts suspected of sharing music illegally. The ISPs wil then ask the owners of those accounts to stop. After the third request, the suspected infringer might lose his or her Internet connection (TC). This is the most viable option. People know their chances of being sued over illegally downloading music are about the same as being struck by lightning. Scaring people with cutting off their internet connection is much easier and ISP’s can take on many people at once. This may stop some people from downloading so much, but the frenzy will still continue.

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