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IFPI 'First Wave' Sues 247 In Europe & Canada

Posted by timothy on from the litigious-society dept.

securitas writes "AP and many others report that the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry - IFPI - has sued 247 accused file-sharers in Germany, Denmark, Italy and Canada as part of an unprecedented, coordinated attack. The IFPI represents the global recording industry through its members - national associations like the IFPIG, DRIA, FIMI, CRIA and RIAA - and says it will launch more international lawsuits in the months ahead. You may also want to read the official IFPI 'first wave' press release/related documents and a statement by the IFPI's chairman and CEO. Lots of coverage at AP/AJC, USA Today, the New York Times, Reuters/CNN Money, ZDNet/CNet, Bloomberg , netimperative and the BBC. The timing of the international legal attacks is especially interesting in light of the recent study that indicates file-sharing has a negligible impact on music sales."

2 of 304 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Isn't it unfair... by Shakrai · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Isn't it unfair that Western Europe and the U.S. (Canada included ;-) ) have to support the entire worlds intellectual property industry? I mean, from pharmacueticals to CD's we have to bear the brunt of the cost burden that undoubtably would be reduced if these companies went after real pirates, ie. those with factories in 3rd world nations selling generic's and pressed/packaged digital media packages? Just seems unfair to me.

    Why would they go after third-world pirates? Those guys are just increasing market-share when they would otherwise presumably be buying from local media/software vendors. Why would they want them doing that?

    But you can bet your ass they'll go after us -- we don't have any other sources to buy their product from so why not? Whatever other sources we might have had they took away with the product design (DVD region codes) or DCMA.

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  2. They don't care if filesharing helps sales by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not interesting that they are suing at all. If filesharing helped music sales increase 1000% they still would be suing filesharers. They care about control of the media not sales. Filesharing is a threat to their business because filesharing makes their class of middleman obsolete. If artists release their music over kazaa what purpose would RIAA members serve?