The Recording Industry Association of America has filed 41 new lawsuits and sent 90 warning letters to suspected peer-to-peer online music file swappers, bringing the total of warnings sent since they started the P2P crackdown in September to 400.
The RIAA told the Associated Press that it has also done 220 settlements with "substantial" P2P file swappers since that crackdown began, with 1,054 "former" file swappers submitting to the trade association's amnesty program.
"These lawsuits help to foster an environment that provides a level playing field for the growing number of legitimate online music services to thrive," the RIAA said in a formal statement. The group added that their legal campaign against the P2P swappers has "deepen(ed) the understanding of the illegality of file-sharing copyrighted songs," citing a Hart Research survey showing about 64 percent of Americans now understand it is illegal to download music, compared with 37 percent in November 2002.
During November, the RIAA announced support for a federal bill that would make it a crime to obtain music before the final album is officially released and offer it for Internet downloading by P2P networks.
"It's a timely and important piece of legislation that targets a particularly damaging form of Internet piracy: stealing music before it is even released into the marketplace," said RIAA chairman and chief executive officer Mitch Bainwol of the so-called Artists' Rights and Theft Prevention Act, co-sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Dianne Feinstein (D-California). "[M]ajor artists have been forced to release their albums earlier than planned because Internet ripping groups distributed their music in pre-release form worldwide. Artists work day and night to get their music just right. Releasing an album before it is intended for sale to the public scoops the legitimate market for that work and damages a crucial sales period."
Bainwol said that bill, if signed into law, would make it easier for law enforcement and copyright holders to bring cases "by recognizing that stealing pre-release works causes an indisputable amount of damage."
