As we reported earlier, the RIAA has announced plans to sue Napster on the basis on contributory copyright infringement. The lawsuit should be filed in the next couple of days. An RIAA spokeswoman was quoted as saying, "We spent many days sampling the Napster community, and found that virtually all file traffic is unauthorized." A few weeks back, Napster CEO Eileen Richardson had said they were working with the RIAA in order to work out any problems, but, according to the RIAA, repeated attempts to contact Napster for meeting was not taken seriously so they "had no other choice but litigation."



This case, no matter the outcome, will be a landmark decision for digital audio enthusiasts and could pave the way for the future. One thing that does concern me is that the RIAA may ask for a temporary injunction at the opening hearing. If granted, that effectively kills Napster right there. That means they will have to close all access to the Napster service and will, pretty much, put them out of business. I wonder where users would turn if that happens.

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