A Nation of Pirates
Panicked by digital plunder, the entertainment industry fights back
Elusive prey. When Napster introduced mainstream Web users to bootlegging three years ago, the solution appeared simple to the companies and the courts: Shut it down. Napster was an easy target because it kept its members' names on its corporate central servers, in effect acting as a direct matchmaker for every tune traded. Its successors, however, are decentralized. Their trading networks could continue to run even if their Web sites were shut down completely. And the chances of that happening have dwindled. The Recording Industry Association of America has sued several similar file-trading networks, including Grokster and Morpheus. But in April, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that the companies aren't responsible for the way members use their software.
Two other major lawsuits filed by the RIAA pointed to a new strategy: targeting users. In May, students on several campuses agreed to pay up to $17,500 after the RIAA sued them for setting up file-trading networks on their campuses. And last month, the court forced Internet service provider Verizon to reveal the names of four of its customers the RIAA believed were engaged in piracy.
Now the industry is taking on pirates one-on-one. On June 25, the Hulk had his revenge when Kerry Gonzalez, a 24-year-old insurance underwriter from Hamilton, N.J., pleaded guilty to one count of federal copyright infringement for making that digital copy of the movie available online. Gonzalez told a magistrate judge in Manhattan how he borrowed a preview tape of the film from a friend who worked for an ad agency and distributed it through a chat room. Gonzalez was ultimately undone by a security ID number tagged to the video on the tape. Free on bond until his sentencing in September, he could face three years in prison plus a $250,000 fine.
That same afternoon, the RIAA announced that it is preparing to file hundreds of civil lawsuits against the most prolific pirates later this summer, seeking damages of as much as $150,000 per song. By logging into the file-sharing networks, RIAA agents are tracking down the Internet addresses of members who are offering music to others. The association then plans to subpoena each computer's real-world address from the appropriate Internet service provider. Sherman says the RIAA initially will pursue people who maintain large catalogs of music on their computers and allow others to download files. "The more files you offer to download, the bigger target you make yourself," he says. "But that's only the beginning. We intend to keep filing lawsuits on a regular basis until people get the message."
The strategy could easily misfire, say critics. Because it would target the person registered to the Internet account, parents could be sued for their children's downloading, and roommates could be sued for other roommates' activities. That would further dim an already negative view of the industry among many peer-to-peer users. "When you go out and buy a CD, it's $5 more than it was a few years ago," says Mark, a college student from Geneva, Ill., who uses Kazaa to download live Bob Dylan shows. "I can't afford to quench my [music] habit because it's too expensive." Given the mores of the digital world, says Alan Davidson of the Center for Democracy and Technology, "the penalties seem to be disproportionate to the offense."
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