If you own an MP3 Player the chances are you’ll have downloaded music from the Internet, whether from an authorised legal source, or otherwise. Everyone knows that downloaded illegal music is wrong, but as there are so many people doing it just what are the consequences?

Is anyone likely to find out or care if you download an album or two from a peer-to-peer site?

Well, yes actually.

The Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA, have public ally and quite forcefully fought the sites and people who they view as having ‘stolen’ music. Representing the music artists themselves, the RIAA went after the websites first. Napster, for instance, were sued for billions of US dollars, forcing them to shut down completely.

Then the RIAA went after individuals they saw as hosting music for others to share, warning them that if they continued to host illegal music they would face similar action.

The argument from individuals that they didn’t realise they were doing anything wrong didn’t serve as a defence either. This means that if you’re downloading illegal music using applications such as Bit Torrent or Kazaa, you’re facing the very real possibility that you too could be sued for your part in the process.