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RIAA Drops Amnesty Offer For File Traders

Posted: 9:56 am EDT April 20, 2004

The music industry's trade group is no longer granting amnesty to illegal file-sharers who admit it.

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The Recording Industry Association of America had instituted the Clean Slate program in September. It promised not to target individuals for lawsuits if they admitted they shared music files online and removed them from their computers.

Eric Parke of Novato, Calif., sued the RIAA, accusing the group of fraudulent business practices because it couldn't guarantee that anyone who admitted to file-sharing would not be sued.

In papers filed Friday, RIAA attorneys asked the court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the case is moot, because the group dropped the program earlier this month.

The music industry says that file trading and CD burning have cost it sales over the last several years, but some studies contradict that finding.

Part of the RIAA's effort to curb piracy is working with legitimate retailers to sell songs online.

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