News Legal costs too high for RIAA in Japan

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http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/music-industry-drops-effort-to-sue-song-swappers

Japan news reports about RIAA

The move ends a controversial program that saw the Recording Industry Association of America sue about 35,000 people since 2003 for swapping songs online. Because of high legal costs for defenders, virtually all of those hit with lawsuits settled, on average for around $3,500. The association’s legal costs, in the meantime, exceeded the settlement money it brought in.

“But they need to change how people spend money on records,” he said. “People like to share music. The Internet makes it so easy. They have to do something to change this business model of theirs.”