mjm wired ;)  

Some of you may have already seen this link posted on Slashdot (please read it). The thing that caught my eye was that I read "Ann Arbor, Mich" in it. Basically the article states that the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is serving subpoenas indiscriminantly to users who both download and share music files using P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing programs. In terms of liability they may also target user's parents, grandparents and roommates all depending on account information from their ISP (internet service provider).

These subpoenas which may or may not become direct lawsuits are being issued rapidly (recently over 900) and without any regards for situation or circumstances. Previous incidents have proven that lawsuits have costed individuals (students) thousands of dollars and that the RIAA simply does not care about your situation in their allegations.

Distributing and obtaining copyrighted material (without paying for it) is illegal, however I cannot concede that this is the proper action that should be taken. So I'm putting out the warning to everyone. Remember that at least 3 people always know what you do online: you, your ISP and the location from which you download (i.e. the website, ftp, or P2P). The RIAA is directly targetting individual users. If you are using something like KaZaa and share files you are at risk (yes you!). In the least, I urge you to educate yourself regarding this issue, which undoubtedly will become worse in the near future.