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The latest music-piracy statistics have just been released by the RIAAhttp://www.riaa.com/">RIAA;, bringing to light several new wrinkles in the ongoing struggle to protect the owners of music copyrights from those who illegally copy and sell protected works. Released August 21, the report details the new problems brought about by CD-R technology and MP3 files distributed via the web.

The Recording">http://www.riaa.com/">Recording Industry of America's ongoing pursuit of music pirates bore fruit last week on Tuesday, July 7, when the organization collected $750,000 in settlements from three companies that had produced and marketed CD compilations of hit records. The RIAA also received $20,000 in restitution from Lloyd Schiffres, owner of Top Hat Productions, a disc-jockey supply house. Schiffres, who has been arrested three times, handed over 31 sets of his For DJs Only compilations.

Over the past year, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAAhttp://www.riaa.com">RIAA;) has made significant headway in its multi-front war against commercial piracy, according to a detailed report issued by the trade group October 21.

Mom fights back: As we've previously reportedhttp://stereophile.com/news/020705riaa/">reported;, the recording industry hasn't shied away from pursuing individuals it suspects of illegal downloading from peer-to-peer networks through the RIAA's "John Doe" lawsuits, most of which have intimidated the recipients into making out-of-court settlements. This strategy has, on several occasions, made the organization look foolish—as it assuredly did when it served a deceased 83-year-old.

Even if you win, sometimes you lose—a lesson the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) might soon be learning if the results of a new poll are proven to reflect the long-term mainstream music buying mood.

In 1984, George Orwell's chilling tale of life in a totalitarian society, good citizens are expected to master the art of "doublethink," the ability to embrace two contradictory ideas at the same time. As evidenced by legal actions undertaken by their organization in late May, executives of the Recording">http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America would make excellent role models in an Orwellian state.

Less than a week after launching major copyright-infringement litigationhttp://www.stereophile.com/news/11422/">litigation; against several large Internet service providers (ISPs), member companies of the Recording">http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) abruptly withdrew their lawsuit because an offending offshore music site had even more abruptly gone dark.