A group affiliated with the Danish music, film and software industries has been sending out invoices to users of peer-to-peer file-sharing networks like Kazaa and eDonkey, demanding payment for downloaded copies of songs, movies or video games.
Earlier this year, AntiPiratGruppen (Anti-Piracy Group) began tracking the activities of Danish users of file-sharing networks, and then contacting the appropriate Internet service providers demanding users' names and addresses.
Late last month, with contact information in hand, the group began mailing out invoices, charging $8 per album, $25 per movie and $40 per video game that appeared in a user's shared folder. The group threatened invoice recipients with legal action should the sum demanded remain unpaid.
Approximately 150 people received invoices averaging $400, said Morten Wind Lindegaard, an attorney with AntiPiratGruppen, with some users receiving bills for more than $10,000 for their alleged infringement. Roughly half of the people billed have actually elected to pay, taking the group up on its offer to settle the case if half the amount demanded is paid and the users delete the material from their hard drives, he says.
All funds collected will go to the proper copyright holders, in this case the Danish industry groups that created AntiPiratGruppen in the first place.
The group's actions have already had a noticeable effect, said Lindegaard: "It's now harder to find Danish stuff on Kazaa, and we have made it known that it is illegal to download music, games and movies using Kazaa, and we hope that more people will choose not to share copyrighted materials on the Internet."
Could targeting users in the same way happen in the United States? The Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, the two entertainment industry trade groups that have fought most vigorously against file-sharing, have largely avoided going after individuals, choosing instead to focus the bulk of their efforts on suing the companies that provide the software programs and servers used by peer-to-peer networks.
There is something of a precedent for what AntiPiratGruppen is doing. The Business Software Alliance, an anti-piracy trade group representing software companies like Microsoft, Adobe and Symantec, has long used a similar approach to combat business software piracy. The BSA sends letters to companies suspected of having installed illegal copies of programs like Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office, giving them an opportunity to fess up and pay licensing fees rather than face legal action.
A spokesperson for the RIAA refused to comment on whether or not similar tactics might be employed in the United States to combat the sharing of MP3s, saying only that they support the Danish group in their enforcement efforts.
However in October of this year, the RIAA filed suit against Verizon for refusing to turn over the identity of a DSL subscriber accused of sharing hundreds of music files, a move that might be a prelude to actions similar to those taken in Denmark.
While the RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America might be well within their rights to go after people who download music using file-sharing networks, sending out letters to teenagers demanding money might not be in their best interests.
"I don't expect many people would pay, because they just don't accept these industries' view of copyright," said Wendy Seltzer, of the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, a group that monitors legal threats that stifle online activity. "Besides, the RIAA and the MPAA have avoided going after end users so far because individuals are more sympathetic defendants than software companies."
