RIAA Targets Napster-Like OpenNap Servers

In the wake of its legal battle against music-sharing service Napster, the Recording Industry Association of America is taking its ongoing copyright fight to other services and the servers that host them.

The organization is sending legal notices to Internet service providers that it believes host OpenNap servers, which use software that allows them to perform a function similar to Napster's music exchange service.

Since Monday, the RIAA has sent 75 legal notices to between 40 and 50 ISPs across the U.S., warning them of possible copyright violation, says Jonathan Whitehead, antipiracy counsel for the RIAA.

"We believe there are about 80 or 90 OpenNap servers in the country, and we're sending these letters out on a rolling basis," Whitehead says. The RIAA acknowledges the OpenNap servers may not be affiliated with Napster, but it contends they are used in a similar way to share copyrighted material.

In fact, a small corps of Napster alternatives has been growing in the aftermath of the ongoing legal battle between the music industry and the music sharing site.

The global network of OpenNap servers is maintained by a group of open-source programmers. It is accessible through Napigator 2.0, a Napster client plug-in unaffiliated with Napster.

After an unfavorable ruling February 12, which found that Napster encourages violation of copyright laws, the site began reorganizing as a subscription service and is offering to settle with the music labels that are suing it.

ISPs Buckle at Threat

So far, the RIAA is satisfied with the response from the ISPs it has contacted.

"Every ISP I've spoken to has told me that they would take action concerning these servers, and we've seen a couple of them shut down over the past few days," according to Whitehead.

The letters the RIAA is sending out have "given [the ISPs] an opportunity to avoid potential liability," he adds.

The RIAA's weapon in this battle is a 1998 law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which states that an ISP must block access to any customer upon notification that they are infringing copyrights.

The RIAA plans to contact every ISP in the U.S. that it believes is running OpenNap servers. Outside the U.S., it needs to rely on the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, Whitehead says.

"They are fully aware of these OpenNap servers," he says. "International action will take place in due time."

Complicating matters for the RIAA is Gnutella, a file-sharing system that doesn't rely on central servers, making it more difficult to shut down by legal means. The RIAA will not comment on Gnutella.