RIAA chases 757 downloaders

'John Doe' lawsuits filed against users of P2P file-sharing networks

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has continued its war on illegal downloaders by filing 757 lawsuits against people it claims are illegally copying digital music.

The RIAA is suing users at 17 US universities, including Boston, Columbia, Princeton and California Los Angeles. All are users of the high-speed Internet2 network intended for academic researchers.

The remaining 693 'John Doe' lawsuits were filed against users of P2P file-sharing networks including eDonkey and LimeWire.

In the past two years the RIAA has sued 14,800 US computer users. This third wave of suits is aimed at users of Internet2. In April and May 2005, the RIAA expanded its efforts to include nearly 500 students at 38 Internet2-equipped schools.

Meanwhile, a disabled mother from Oregon who was sued by the RIAA for file-sharing has countersued. She is claiming hurt feelings, " outrage" and deceptive business practices.

The woman claims that the RIAA hired a private agency to hack into home computers and collect personal information. She maintains that she has never downloaded or shared music online.

This is the second time that the RIAA has been sued under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 intended to combat organised crime.

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