Companies given strong warning on staff file-sharing

Record companies and movie studios are turning the anti-piracy spotlight on large companies, sending a letter to top CEOs this week warning of illegal file trading going on at "a surprising number of companies."

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and songwriters' associations have drafted a letter expected to be sent to all Fortune 1000 companies, cautioning executives that employees' song- or movie-swapping could put them at legal risk.

The corporate letter is one part of an aggressive new effort by the content holders' trade associations that aims to push internet file-traders off many of the fastest networks that support their actions.

Earlier this month, the same groups sent a similar letter to university officials, warning them of growing file-sharing use on their networks. That letter stopped short of threatening legal liability for the educational institutions themselves, but said the campuses should institute and enforce strong policies against the use of networks for digital copyright infringement.

Last April, the RIAA announced a legal settlement of $1m with Arizona company Integrated Information Systems, after alleging that the company had let its employees trade copyrighted files over its internal network. The group has said in recent weeks that other companies face similar issues, but that it could not comment specifically on ongoing investigations.

John Borland writes for News.com