A NEW YORK JUDGE has ruled that the act of making files available for download does not constitute copyright theft. The ruling is likely to knobble thousands of pending cases brought against file sharing networks and individuals by the content Mafiaa.

When companies like the RIAA sit on the torrents to catch all the IPs, arent they making an offer to distribute too?

yes but there acting on the authority of the copyright holders,

I like what musiccreators.ca are saying and think it is much truth in it, it is not the artists RIAA are looking out for but mainly the shareholders.

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Record companies and music publishers are not our enemies, but lets be clear: lobbyists for major labels are looking out for their shareholders, and seldom speak for Canadian artists. Legislative proposals that would facilitate lawsuits against our fans or increase the labels control over the enjoyment of music are made not in our names, but on behalf of the labels foreign parent companies.

Judge shuts down RIAA in music piracy case

Judge shuts down RIAA in music piracy case The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has suffered another legal setback after a judge denied a ruling in a music piracy case this week. The judge ruled that "the sole act of making a music file available in a "shared folder" does not violate copyright laws."

In the case Atlantic v. Howell, the RIAA asserted that a "sound recording" that is legally ripped to a PC and then stored in any type of shared folder is unauthorized and illegal. The assertion was not really clear however, as a shared folder is a very broad category.

The RIAA saw some backlash for its assertion when the rumor was spread around the Internet that the RIAA believed that ripping CD music was illegal. The group cleared up the situation by saying that it doesnt consider ripping illegal but that adding music recordings to a shared folder that can be accessed by others in a P2P file sharing program is illegal and should be stopped.

The ruling this week has shut those theories down however. U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake tossed out all the RIAAs motions including the "making available" and "offer to distribute" theories that pertained to "shared folders."

The judgment could have long lasting effects in all of the RIAAs music piracy cases as it is now harder for the group to prove that "a copyrighted file actually changed hands given the anonymous nature of file-sharing programs and the lack of cooperation from Internet service providers with these lawsuits."