Facing the threat of a legal crackdown against people who swap songs online, the head of the parent of file-sharing software Morpheus on Thursday promised to launch a lobbying campaign in the U.S. Congress.
Based on the continued popularity of Morpheus, Kazaa and other peer-to-peer systems, the Recording Industry Association of America on Wednesday announced it would take the unprecedented step of suing the people who use the software to distribute illegal copies of songs.
Privately held StreamCast Networks distributes the Morpheus software, which a federal judge recently found does not violate copyright laws in a ruling that marked a major legal setback to the recording industry.
The skirmishing over file sharing comes as the early success of Apple Computer’s iTunes online music store has suggested that legitimate services could begin to woo users away from the peer-to-peer sites, which the record industry blames for three years of declining CD sales.
“The record industry called (peer-to-peer) users pirates, but what these people are are hundreds of millions of voters,” said Michael Weiss, chief executive of Los Angeles-based StreamCast.
“At the end of next month, we’re going to be involved in helping to mobilize P2P users around the world and ultimately around the globe to ensure that their voices are heard,” he said.
“There’s been too much misinformation and rhetoric,” Weiss said, “We’re going to facilitate that consumers’ voices are heard in Congress.”
Weiss returned to the role of CEO of StreamCas. in April. He had launched the original Morpheus file-sharing software.
The RIAA said it will spend the next month identifying users who offer a significant number of songs for others to copy on file-sharing networks in the United States and will then target those people in lawsuits. The RIAA said it will file the first of its lawsuits in August.
Critics have said the RIAA risks alienating music fan with its aggressive tactics.
Weiss and other technology proponents have long said the music industry would be better off embracing rather than fighting peer-to-peer services.
Earlier in his career, Weiss was a pioneer in the home video industry was actively involved in lobbying against the Motion Picture Association of America’s efforts to block legal video rentals.
“History keeps repeating itself and has shown that you cannot stop technological innovation,” Weiss said. “The sooner they get onto it (technology), the sooner they will profit from it.”
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