Round 2 has begun: the RIAA has sent out 204 letters to filesharers, notifying them of an impending suit and encouraging the filesharers to settle. As the New York Times describes the letter:A sample of the letter provided by the industry association tells recipients that record companies "intend to file a lawsuit against you shortly for copyright infringement" because "we have gathered substantial evidence" of illegal activity. The letter encourage the recipient to "preserve evidence that relates to the claims against you," including all music downloads. But it goes on to warn recipients that "the evidence necessary for the record companies to prevail in this action has already been secured."
Those who wish to settle "or who have other concerns" are encouraged to contact the association.
Read the story here.
While I intuitively dislike the RIAA's campaign, it seems more and more likely that it will be effective. Not many filesharers are willing to smear their (generally) good names by going to court, and I'm not sure how quickly and effectively a countermovement (or a plan for reform) will be able to counteract these suits.
There's also the claim that these suits will sour people to buying music. Well, I don't know about that. To use a movie analogy (since I'm not a big fan of pop music), if I were sued by New Line Cinema for allegedly pirating the Lord of the Rings movies, I'd still be showing up at midnight for The Return of the King. I imagine music fans feel the same way, at least about music that they really like.