RIAA sues computer-less family for piracy

The family targeted by the RIAA believes the lawsuit may apply to the previous owner of their house

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is suing a family for downloading music illegally, but the family is denying the charge on the grounds that it does not have internet access or a computer.

In a federal lawsuit the RIAA claimed that the Walls family from Rockmart, GA had been downloading tracks from artists including Bob Seger, TLC and Whitney Houston.

"I don't understand this," James Walls told his local paper, the Rockmart Journal. "How can they sue us when we don't even have a computer?"

The family believes that the lawsuit may apply to the previous owner of the house, as they have been there for less than a year.

This is not the first such occurrence of suspected mistaken identity. In February another recipient of a writ claimed he did not own a computer.

"Music and other copyrighted materials are some of America's most important, cherished and visible exports," said the RIAA in a statement this month. " However, pirated sales of our members' recordings topped $4.6bn in 2004."