RIAA vs. Downloaders

Ever since the age of peer-to-peer file sharing programs began (i.e. Napster), there has been an ongoing conflict between illegal downloaders and the regulatory organizations who try to impede them. Over the years the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been relentless in their persuit to seek out offenders- investigating businesses and universities across the country and handing out lawsuit after lawsuit. The battle over downloading undoubtedly has an effect on the radio industry. The more people are able to download free music, the less likely they are to subscribe to a radio service like Sirius, XM, or HD.
The RIAA targets offenders by putting surveillance on peer-to-peer (P2P) downloading software, and monitoring the use by various users. Once a user is targeted, using their username as an identifier, the RIAA's technicians can track them to their computer using their IP address. The IP address is a unique address that computers use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a computer network. To initialize the battle with downloading at the workplace, the RIAA sends letters to the upper management of the company. The letters outlines the possible fines they could face, as well as a list of the ways they can help prevent illegal downloading at the workplace. A CD is also included, which contains a logged list of material, dates, times, IP addresses and users in question of copyright violation. The letter says "In short, your computer network and resources are being used to illegally distribute copyrighted music on the Internet. We strongly urge you to take immediate steps to prevent the continued infringement of our members' sound recordings on your corporate network." University campuses are also a hotspot for RIAA investiagation. Countless students across America have incurred lawsuits from the RIAA involving illegal downloading and copyright infringement. Many of these lawsuits can reach tens of thousand or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. This has gone on for years, but now some states are starting to speak out on the issue.

The Attorney General of Oregon State has now blocked many attempts by the RIAA to spy on university students. The state and University refuse to cooperate, saying "We do not think the university can be compelled to produce investigative work for the recording industry." This has been one of two huge blows to the RIAA in recent weeks. The other involves EMI's announcement that it will begin scaling back its funding of groups like the RIAA.

Sources:
www.afterdawn.com/ news/archive/3893.cfm
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2204762/state-oregon-blocks-riaa-spying