You can't accuse the entertainment industry of giving up easily. In the midst of the long running Grokster lawsuit, and after years of arguing about music piracy, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has just filed a wodge of new lawsuits. And it's targeting Asia this time, as Reuters points out:
The music industry has launched its first lawsuits in Asia against illicit file-sharers as it broadens the crackdown on Internet piracy, which it blames for lost sales.
The London-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said on Tuesday it has filed 963 lawsuits in countries including Japan, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Iceland, bringing the total number of legal actions to more than 11,000 worldwide.
In Japan, the world's second-largest music market, music sales have fallen by nearly a third over the last five years.
"The industry has decided this is the time to act," said IFPI Chairman and Chief Executive John Kennedy. "The Japanese are law-abiding citizens, and it may be this delivers the short, sharp jolt that we need there."
I'm sure they'll be happy to comply.
The arguments over whether online music piracy actually damages sales are still raging, and with numerous legal alternatives, some say the ship has already sailed on this. But the music industry is still adhering to a "carrot and stick" approach - but it seems a lot more involved in the stick side of things.
