According to Cary Sherman, President of the RIAA, the lawsuits "are an important part of the larger strategy to educate file sharers about the law, protect the rights of copyright owners and encourage music fans to turn to these legitimate services."
"It's important for everyone to understand that no one is immune from the consequences of illegally 'sharing' music files on P2P networks," added Sherman. "Piracy, which is particularly rampant on college campuses, continues to hurt retailers, musicians, producers, record labels and the thousands of less-celebrated individuals involved in making music."
The bulk of the actions, including all of those announced yesterday, are "John Doe" lawsuits, which are used to sue defendants whose names are not known.
The RIAA is only able to identify file-swappers by their Internet Protocol addresses (their numerical computer address), and since December has been forced to obtain court-approved subpoenas before ISPs are obliged to reveal the identities of their file-sharing clients.
This is the third batch of "John Doe" actions to be filed and, according to the RIAA, the earlier suits are progressing nicely.
All four courts involved in the first round of litigation have granted the record companies' preliminary request to issue subpoenas to ISPs to learn the identity of illegal file sharers.
The record companies plan to send letters to identified individuals offering to settle with them before litigation goes any further. If an illegal file sharer rejects the settlement overture, the record companies will proceed with litigation against that individual.
For the second round of suits brought in February, courts in Georgia and New Jersey have approved the RIAA's motion to begin issuing subpoenas. A court in Florida has requested additional briefing. In Philadelphia, the RIAA is asking the court to reconsider an initial decision that the RIAA needed to file individual complaints for each illegal file sharer.