The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sent cease and desist letters to seven P2P companies demanding that they halt their "practice of encouraging users to illegally distribute copyrighted material". This is the first action taken by the group which represents major record companies since the Grokster decision earlier this year in which the Supreme Court ruled that operators of P2P services could be held liable for copyright infringement by third parties under some circumstances.
For example a company that encouraged or incited copyright infringement using its services could be held liable for the actions of third-parties. "Companies situated similarly to Grokster have been given ample opportunity to do the right thing," a RIAA spokesperson said. "Those businesses that continue to knowingly operate on the wrong side of that line do so at their own risk."
The RIAA refused to name the companies that have received letters. "We demand that you immediately cease-and-desist from enabling and inducing the infringement of RIAA member sound recordings. If you wish to discuss pre-litigation resolution of these claims against you, please contact us immediately." the RIAA states in a copy of a letter that News.com managed to obtain.
The letter also goes on to say that the Grokster decision applies equally to this certain company and certain individuals at the company. BearShare, WinMX and LimeWire were identified in a Wall Street Journal story as recipients of the letters but none have commented. So now the entertainment industry after having some success from the Supreme Court (although not exactly what it had hoped for) appears to be intending to see just how much it can squeeze from the Grokster ruling.
Many experts feared that after the ruling, entertainment companies would abuse the ruling.
Source:
ZDNet
The RIAA refused to name the companies that have received letters. "We demand that you immediately cease-and-desist from enabling and inducing the infringement of RIAA member sound recordings. If you wish to discuss pre-litigation resolution of these claims against you, please contact us immediately." the RIAA states in a copy of a letter that News.com managed to obtain.
The letter also goes on to say that the Grokster decision applies equally to this certain company and certain individuals at the company. BearShare, WinMX and LimeWire were identified in a Wall Street Journal story as recipients of the letters but none have commented. So now the entertainment industry after having some success from the Supreme Court (although not exactly what it had hoped for) appears to be intending to see just how much it can squeeze from the Grokster ruling.
Many experts feared that after the ruling, entertainment companies would abuse the ruling.
Source:
ZDNet
