When all Else Fail, Sue Your Customers!

Via TPM: The Recording Industry has decided that copying your own personal CDs onto your computer is considered illegal. As reported in the Washington Post this morning:

Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings.[Link]

The recording industry is desperately trying to hold onto their business model, that they have reaped billions of dollars in profit over the years. So instead of bracing the new technology and trying to build a new business model from it, they choose to sue their customer. Brilliant thinking.