Will the RIAA have a permanent impact on file sharing?

August 21, 2003

A study released Thursday,
by the National Purchase Diary or NPD Group suggests that it is for the short term. The report said online file swapping fell off in May, shortly after
the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) made public their
intention to take legal action against individual file swappers. NPD
findings indicate that the number of households downloading music decreased from
a high of 14.5 million in April to 12.7 million in May and 10.4 million in June.

Although
NPD said it couldn't make a direct link between the sharp drop in file
swapping in May and the RIAA's legal battles, the connection seemed more
than coincidental.

"While we can't say categorically that the
RIAA's legal efforts are the sole cause for the reduction in file
acquisition, it appears to be more than just a natural seasonal decline,"
Russ Crupnick, a vice president at NPD, said in a statement. "This
decrease is sharper than the declines we're seeing in the offline retail
world."

The RIAA didn't begin its public campaign
to sue file swappers until late June, when it announced that it would
start gathering evidence to identify people who have traded illegal files.
Since then, the group has sent out hundreds of subpoenas to file traders
from all walks of life.

On the other hand, as we have all
read, the RIAA seems to be reacting to unfavorable
press. They are fine-tuning their stance amid questions from federal
lawmakers and a frightened public. Now the group is saying, that although they
do not in any way condone sharing of copyrighted material, they will
only go after people who trade a "substantial" amount of music. The
question is, will the legal campaign be effective long term or is the
cost of litigation and political pressure going to put an end to the RIAA and
their holy war on file sharing?

Source: news.com