Thursday, June 26, 2003
The Mother of All Lawsuits
The American recording industry yesterday threatened to take legal action against individuals for illegal file sharing of music, opening a new front in the war against online piracy.
The threat will send a chilling message that the industry is no longer content with chasing file-sharing services such as Napster and Kazaa. The first suits could take place as early as mid-August.
The move underlines how desperate the music industry has become to staunch the flow of illegal downloads, which are beginning to devastate compact disc sales. In 2000, the 10 top-selling albums in the US sold a total of 60m copies. In 2001 that dropped to 40m, and last year it was 34m.
Revenues for the industry in the US have dropped from $14.6bn (£8.8bn) in 1999 to $12.6bn last year. Although some critics have blamed a dearth of quality new music, the dramatic increase in people downloading music is widely held as the chief cause.
Story here.
posted by chris at 6:07 PM
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