RIAA amnesty deal

By Jon Newton

Say you're sorry, promise to delete ilegally downloaded music and that you won't do it again, and the RIAA won't sue you.

This story was doing the rounds yesterday, as most people reading this will know. We also had it early on from reliable sources but - my fault entirely. It inspired me to write the RIAA / MPAA merger spoof and I just didn't get around to it. More on that later.

Make sure you read Bill Evans' piece HERE before you even think of doing anything.

In the meanwhile, the Associated Press' Ted Bridis says it's true: so it must be, given that Bridis seems to be among the RIAA's beloved.

But, he says, the offer of amnesty won't cover, "the roughly 1,600 people who already have been targets of copyright subpoenas from the Recording Industry Association of America, which has promised to file hundreds of infringement lawsuits across the country as early as next week.

"Sources who described the proposal Thursday spoke on condition of anonymity. A spokeswoman for the RIAA, Amy Weiss, declined to comment.

"The RIAA's offer would require Internet users to complete a notarized amnesty form that includes promises to delete any illegally downloaded music and not participate in illegal file-trading in the future. In exchange, the RIAA would agree not to file a potentially expensive infringement lawsuit."

As EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) spokesman Fred von Lohmann is quoted as saying, "It will be an interesting measure of how much fear the recording industry has managed to inject into the American public."

Von Lohmann warned the RIAA 'deal' couldn't guarantee self-confesses infringers wouldn't be sued by others.