File Swappers Get Threatened

The recording industry has tapped into two Internet file-swapping services to warn people trading music they are breaking the law. The Recording Industry Association of America, a trade association, will collect the user names of those it suspects are offering copyright material with the Kazaa and Grokster file-sharing services, RIAA President Cary Sherman told reporters during a conference call Tuesday.

Users identified as having those songs on their computers, enabled for swapping, are sent the RIAA's message:

"COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT WARNING: It appears that you are offering copyrighted music to others from your computer. Distributing or downloading copyrighted music on the Internet without permission from the copyright owner is ILLEGAL. It hurts songwriters who create and musicians who perform the music you love, and all the other people who bring you music."

The message warns users that they are not anonymous, can be easily identified and are at risk for legal penalties. It suggests the user disable the file-swapping software. Only Kazaa and Grokster users who have their peer-to-peer software set for file sharing are being targeted at this point.

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