Analysis: RIAA Strategy Shift Mired in Murky Legal Waters
Found on Wired on Monday, 22 December 2008
The Recording Industry Association of America's new enforcement strategy is based on a questionable interpretation of what constitutes copyright infringement.
The RIAA uncovers what it claims is unlawful infringement by employing unlicensed private investigators, the subject of a federal lawsuit in Oregon seeking class action status.
Michigan and Massachusetts (.pdf) have recently ordered MediaSentry, the RIAA's investigative wing, to stop performing unlicensed investigations. South Carolina, Texas, Florida and New York were mulling similar action.
Although this was reported before, I'd like to take the chance and point out the reason for the change of plans. There is no doubt that their strategy to sue failed miserably; filesharing is bigger than ever. The problem for them is that judges begin to work against them. Clearly, they don't want to start a fight they will not win. By teaming up with ISPs under a "gentleman agreement", they can avoid such lawsuits and simply cut users off without actually having to prove anything; delivering an IP is good enough for them.