No Rock And Roll Fun

RIAA AXES AMNESTY: Rather than face down a legal challenge, the RIAA has pulled its 'amensty for filesharers' programme. The scheme had attempted to spin converts out of the lawsuits against other filesharers, inviting individuals to come forward and sign written pledges that they'd been bad as Leroy Brown, promising not to do it again and wiping any dubious material off their computers. Proving that lawsuits do sometimes have an effect, the RIAA have told a California court they don't need to consider if the offer stunk as much legally as it did ethically, as they're going to quietly drop it. In the submission, they said that the number of people signing the pledge had slowed "to a trickle", although since they'd only got 1,108 pledges after six months (out of at least six million Americans with files on their machines), it doesn't sound like it was gushing much to begin with. The RIAA say they'll stick with the contracts they've already signed - which, judging by normal music business practice, means they'll be ripped up within the month.