RIAA adopts new antipiracy strategy: “The record industry has dropped its longtime legal strategy of targeting individuals suspected of sharing music files online and is working instead with Internet service providers to send warnings before considering a lawsuit.The new strategy, disclosed Friday, doesn’t mean the Recording Industry Association of America will stop filing lawsuits. However, legal action will be directed only at people who ignore repeated notices. The new tactic would have not affect on pending lawsuits. The RIAA told The Wall Street Journal that the industry was changing to a tactic that it believed would be more effective in reducing the amount of illegal file sharing that takes place on peer-to-peer Web sites.

The RIAA’s lack of effectiveness so far is reflected in the latest numbers from consulting firm the NPD Group. In the third quarter of this year, the number of people sharing music on P2P sites held steady at 14%, but the number of tracks shared rose by 23%. In the meantime, CD sales continue to plummet. Under the new strategy, the RIAA is working with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and ISPs on a number of voluntary online anti-piracy initiatives that would include service providers passing along RIAA copyright infringement notices to subscribers. Those people who ignore repeated notices would face the possibility of having their service reduced and possibly suspended before a lawsuit is considered. In return for ISP cooperation, the RIAA would no longer file lawsuits to force the service providers to turn over identifying information of suspected illegal file sharers.

Source: InfoWeek

(Via Releaselog | RLSLOG.net.)