File sharing and lawsuit

From the New York Times
Labels Win Suit Against Song Sharer
By JEFF LEEDS
Published: October 5, 2007

"In a crucial legal victory for record labels and other copyright owners, a federal jury yesterday found a Minnesota woman liable for copyright infringement for sharing music online and imposed a penalty of $222,000 in damages...
The verdict represents at least a symbolic victory for the Recording Industry Association of America, the trade group that has coordinated the music labels’ expensive legal campaign, which has recently suffered some highly publicized setbacks...
The lead plaintiff was Capitol Records, a label owned by the EMI Group. The three other major record companies — the Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and the Warner Music Group — also had songs involved in the suit against Ms. Thomas."
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Pirate Bay vs Hollywood

From The Guardian:

"Operating under the sign of a Jolly Roger, The Pirate Bay website hopes to evoke a buccaneer spirit: swashbuckling swordsmen, or perhaps the pirate radio stations of the 1960s. But as the internet's number one destination for illegal downloads, it has raised the hackles of the entertainment industry and elevated its founders to the top of Hollywood's most wanted list.

With more than two million visitors every day, The Pirate Bay has become one of the sharpest thorns in the side of the media business. Its controversial success has caused havoc in the music, TV and film industries.

Current top downloads include The Bourne Ultimatum, Die Hard 4.0 and Knocked Up — all showing in British cinemas, but available to watch on a computer screen for those willing to take the risk.

The three-year campaign to bring down the website is almost an epic of Hollywood proportions, sprinkled with high-flying lawyers and accusations of political extremism. And yet, so far, the chase has failed to bring the pirates down."

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