532 Lawsuits from the RIAA

Here we go again. The RIAA has launched 532 lawsuits against individuals in their quest for total annihilation. Here’s a news brief via Edupage from Educause.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed 532 new lawsuits against computer users it accused of illegally distributing songs over the Internet. The suits are the first since a federal appeals court blocked the use of copyright subpoenas to identify the accused, who are labeled only by their Internet protocol addresses. According to the RIAA, each of the “John Doe” defendants has distributed an average of more than 800 songs online. The suits will work through the courts to obtain traditional subpoenas to identify the users’ names and addresses. The RIAA expects to contact each defendant identified to negotiate a financial settlement before amending the lawsuit to formally name the defendant and transferring the case to the proper jurisdiction.
San Jose Mercury News, 21 January 2004

You go, RIAA! Nail ‘em all! That’ll teach those meddling teenagers! (Teach them, that is, that the recording industry is a bunch of finks.)