Feeling bolstered by the Supreme Court’s indecision on June 27, the RIAA is ramping up is lawsuit campaign on behalf of its member companies. Today, it announced an additional 765 lawsuits against those trading music on the most popular P2P networks. The total number of lawsuits now totals 12,326 individuals – most of which are against Kazaa users.

“Last month, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that businesses that encourage the theft of music can be held accountable for their actions,” said RIAA President Cary Sherman. “For businesses and individuals alike, the authority and credibility of the Court’s decision could not be more clear: downloading without permission is ‘garden variety theft.’ We will continue to send a strong message to the users of these illicit networks that their actions are illegal, they can be identified and the consequences are real.”

As the number of lawsuits grows, many are questioning the effectiveness of this campaign. According to BigChampagne and verified by Slyck.com’s own statistics, the total population of the file-sharing community reached 9 million users last moth. Incredibly, the total population actually doubled since 2003 – the same year the RIAA began it lawsuit campaign.

In addition, music companies filed 176 named lawsuits against individuals in federal courts throughout the United States. When an individual does not respond to an initial notification to settle, the RIAA on behalf of its member companies moves ahead with the lawsuit.

Lastly, the RIAA also stated they will be significantly increasing their copyright campaign against file-sharers.

“In the coming weeks and months, we will significantly expand our anti-piracy efforts for those who have ignored the Court’s message,” Sherman added. “Enforcing our rights against the businesses and individuals engaged in music theft is a critical component of our overall effort to discourage illegal downloading and encourage music fans to turn to legal services. We know that our education and enforcement efforts have made a real impact. With broadband penetration skyrocketing, use of legitimate services continues to surge, while the wildfire-like growth of illicit services has been arrested.”

This smartly phrased last paragraph accentuates the RIAA's knowledge that file-sharing networks continue to grow, just not in a "wildfire-like" fashion. Perhaps tripling in size in two years would constitute this criterion?

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Entertainment Industry :: RIAA

You can read the RIAA's press release here.

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