Cease&desist letters to seven file-sharing networks

Sep 16, 2005 09:54 GMT  ·  By

Recording Industry Association of America, the copyright's watchdog has sent legal warnings to seven file sharing networks in which they are summoned to take legal measures to prevent the users from swapping files which infringe copyrights.

RIAA spokesperson has confirmed the action, but didn't disclose the name of the networks, but Wall Street Journal has found out that among the companies which received warnings are BearShare, Limewire are WinMX.

Practically, these networks have two options: they can either implement technologies that allow users to exchange illegal files or shut down.

"Companies situated similarly to Grokster have been given ample opportunity to do the right thing," the RIAA said in a statement. "There is a right way and a wrong way to conduct a business. Those businesses that continue to knowingly operate on the wrong side of that line do so at their own risk."

The decisions taken by the courts in the lawsuits involving Grokster and Kazaa prove that under no circumstances the P2P networks will be able to hide behind the laws.

In fact, the letter sent to the companies contains references to the MGM versus Grokster case, RIAA considering that the court's decision applies to other file sharing networks as well.

Over the last months, the RIAA has sued over 1,500 users who were found guilty of sharing files which infringed the copyrights.

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