Music Piracy on the Internet

Music piracy has become a worldwide legal battle evolving from the fight against Napster to the current trend of bringing individuals to court. The recording industry has been battling for nearly 4 years in court and online to block the swapping of music files via the Internet. Copyright holders are doing whatever it takes to spread their message including taking Internet companies to court for copyright infringement, placing phony music files on the Internet and suing Internet providers for the identity of subscribers who are accused of music piracy. “The recording industry has many challenges including educating children who were raised on downloading, who have never been to a store to purchase a CD,” said the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) President Cary Sherman.
With the incorporation of Napster in May 1999, the battle began between the first file-swapping website and the recording industry. BMG, Time Warner and Sony took Napster to court claiming they h...