Originally posted by nightzip:
[b]Music industry unleashes 8,000 new
lawsuits
Evil file-sharers may flog their grannies
By INQUIRER newsdesk: Tuesday 17 October 2006, 17:53
FILE SHARERS beware, because the International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry has just today filed 8,000 lawsuits targeting
you.
The lawsuits are far-reaching, spanning 17 countries, including
Mexico, Brazil and Poland where such lawsuits were previously only
an old wive's tale. Over a billion tracks had been illegally
downloaded last year, according to the IFPI, while record company
revenues have nearly halved since the year 2000.
Indeed, the list of targeted countries is a long 'un:
Argentina, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong
Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore
and Switzerland are all on the blacklist. According to the
IFPI, the average case settlement is
around $3,000. Some may say it's a bit of a steep price, but
not the IFPI chairman John Kennedy, who says there's absolutely "no
excuse" for filesharing.
One mother in Argentina had to make her
son sell his car to pay back the settlement fee.
"Consumers today can get music legally in ways that were
unimaginable a few years ago," says John Kennedy. "In each of the
17 countries involved in today's actions there are legal music
services available to consumers."
The IFPI has recently launched a massive "education" campaign to
convince would-be music pirates to stop illegally downloading
music.
Research from Lingnan University in Hong Kong says that about a
third of parents have told their children not to download illegally
over the last year. 67% of people in Hong Kong said that legal
action is a great way to reduce illegal p2p file sharing. Not to
mention, it brings families together as they struggle to pay off
their massive settlement fees and scout around for things they can
sell.
[/b]
Sh1t article sh1t writing.
Journalists...
