The major record labels managed to stay angry throughout 2003 with all those people who illegally downloaded their artists' music. Having sued Napster into oblivion, and put up pretty much every legal battle they could against its successor Kazaa - the Recording Industry Association of America turned its lawyers' attention to the individuals who were sharing music online.
A high profile a-list-artist-endorsed publicity campaign trying to convince music fans that their MP3 sharing was crippling its millionaire artists had little affect on the public's downloading habits. So much so the powers that be decided some scare-tactic lawsuits were needed.
After winning a long legal battle with American ISP Verizon - who argued the RIAA had no legal right to demand to know the identity of individual customers they suspected of illegally sharing music - the RIAA subpoenaed numerous ISPs and colleges to identify serial downloaders, and then engaged in a high profile litigation campaign taking hundreds of individual downloaders to court. Most of those being sued decided to settle out of court, others avoided actual legal action by promising to wipe their MP3 collections and to stop sharing files over the net.
The campaign seemed to work - while illegal MP3 sharing continued, use of Kazaa in the US did fall. Towards the end of the year the major labels' global representatives - the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry - hinted it would push for similar legal action to be taken against illegal downloaders outside the US.
But then in mid-December a series of blows to the majors: The Canadian copyright body said current law there didn't forbid downloading. The courts in Holland said Kazaa wasn't illegal. And the US appeal courts said Verizon was, in fact, right when it said current American law did not allow the RIAA to subpoena the identities of suspected downloaders. What turn the anti-download war will take in 2004 is far from clear.