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RIAA Sends Cease-and-Desist Letters

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

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