In the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that found peer-to-peer software providers ultimately culpable for the copyright infringement committed by their users, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sent cease-and-desist letters to seven file-sharing software firms, demanding that they stop "enabling and inducing" copyright infringement, The Wall Street Journal reported. The RIAA would not identify which companies received the letters, although The Journal reported that BearShare, WinMX and LimeWire were recipients. The Supreme Court ruling directly affected defendants Grokster and StreamCast Networks (Morpheus). Other big-name file-sharing firms include Kazaa, eDonkey and BitTorrent. "We demand that you immediately cease-and-desist from enabling and inducing the infringement of RIAA member sound recordings. If you wish to discuss pre-litigation resolution of these claims against you, please contact us immediately," reads a copy of the RIAA letter obtained by CNET News.com
The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...