Music piracy: a new tune

After five years and about 35,000 lawsuits, the major record companies have ended their prodigious litigation campaign against music fans who shared songs online without the labels' permission. It's a welcome step for many reasons, not the least of which being that the suits were eroding the public's support for copyrights in general. But as the Recording Industry Assn. of America, or RIAA, shifts to a less bare-knuckle approach to enforcing its rights, we hope it also will work harder to profit from an activity it can't seem to kill.

December 20, 2008