How is the Music Industry Responding to File-sharing?
The Canadian Record Industry Association is in the midst of legal proceedings against 29 unnamed alleged music file-sharers. In the US, the music industry is aggressively pursuing music file-sharers through legal action. Since January 2004, the RIAA has filed over 1500 lawsuits against those they believe are swapping music on P2P networks. In addition to lawsuits, the recording industry is attempting to use technological means to curb music file-sharing. In response to technology allowing consumers to easily copy CDs to their personal computers and devices such as MP3 players, record companies have begun to release copy-protected CDs. Copy-protected “CDs” are not standard audio CDs. They have been modified to make it harder for them to play correctly on computers. This is accomplished by placing a corrupt data track on an audio CD. Most audio CD players are built to ignore corrupt data tracks, allowing the disc to play without difficulty. However, CD-ROM drives in computers read CDs di
