Recording Industry Teams Up With Internet Providers To Stop Piracy

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - In a latest move to end piracy, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has decided to team up with various Internet service providers (ISP) and work together. The RIAA said Friday that it will cut back on lawsuits to combat illegal online music sharing.

The trade association said certain ISP's have agreed to impose penalties on customers who ignore repeated warnings regarding distributing free songs. Depending on the agreement, when a customer appears to be uploading music the provider will send an email warning them to stop. However, if the customer continues to upload music, the connection will slow and gradually cut internet access all together.

Record companies have been fighting against free song sharing since their 1999 lawsuit against Napster, software that made it possible to trade MP3 files between individual computers. Though the Napster service shut down, new online sites such as LimeWire and Gnutella have now emerged.

According to Nielsen SoundScan, illicit online file sharing is hurting CD sales. In 2007, U.S. album sales fell 9.5 percent from the previous year.