I told you this was coming. Software is next.
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From: Myway.com
Nov 16, 1:22 PM (ET)
By GARY GENTILE

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A trade group representing seven major movie studios filed a first wave of lawsuits against individuals they say are offering pirated copies of films using Internet-based peer-to-peer file sharing programs. The Motion Picture Association of America announced the federal court suits Tuesday, but did not say how many defendants were sued or where the lawsuits were filed. The group also did not immediately make available a copy of the complaint.

The lawsuits seek injunctions against the defendants. The copyright law also provides for penalties of up to $30,000 for each motion picture traded over the Internet, and up to $150,000 if such infringement is shown to be willful.

The MPAA said it would also make available a computer program that sniffs out movie and music files on a user's computer as well as any installed file sharing programs.

The MPAA said the information detected by the free program would not be shared with it or any other body, but could be used to remove any "infringing movies or music files" and remove file sharing programs.

The trade group said the program would be available for the Windows computer operating system on a special Web site established to educate consumers about copyrights. The name or exact nature of the program was not described Tuesday.

"Many parents are concerned about what their children have downloaded and where they've downloaded it from," MPAA president and chief executive Dan Glickman said in a statement.

The trade group said it would also join with the Video Software Dealers Association to place educational materials in more than 10,000 video stores nationwide. The materials will include anti-piracy ads that are also playing in theaters.

The trade group said that the lawsuits, together with software and educational programs, are necessary tools to fight the small but growing number of films that are available on the Internet, often before a movie has even opened in theaters.