Suing A Bunch of Numbers

The Recording Industry Association of America has filed another 762 lawsuits against individuals suspected of illegal file-swapping. “Among those sued were students at 26 different colleges and universities, where the prevalence of high-speed networks and cash-poor music fans has led to an explosion of peer-to-peer traffic.” As usual, the RIAA doesn’t actually know the identities of the people they are suing, just their computers’ IP addresses – typically, the industry compels internet service providers to reveal the names behind the codes during legal proceedings.