James Delahunty
19 Apr 2005 16:06
The British Phonographic Industry scored another small victory today when a court ordered five ISPs to hand over the personal details of 33 file sharers it alleges to have illegally distributed copyrighted music online through P2P networks. The BPI estimates that these individuals are responsible for uploading 72,000 songs to other P2P users. The total number of P2P users sued in the UK has risen to 90 when you add the latest lawsuits.
They will now face claims for compensation and the legal costs of pursuing them. BPI General Counsel Geoff Taylor said: "This court order should remind every user of a peer-to-peer file sharing service in Britain that they are not anonymous. These 33 people will now face paying thousands of pounds in compensation. We are continuing to collect evidence every day against people who are still uploading music illegally, despite all the warnings we have given. If you want to avoid the risk of court action, stop file sharing and buy music legally."
In March this year, the BPI sued 31 people, many of which were parents whose kids had been downloading and uploading music. The BPI also estimates that downloaders spent £654m less on recorded music over the last two years. They also believe that their actions are turning the tide in the battle against file sharing, but P2P networks appear to be getting more popular in reality.
Source:
The Register