Net-music update

Music file-sharing hasn't been on US media radar screens much in recent months, but it certainly was across The Pond this week. File-sharers face what the BBC called a "legal onslaught," as the IFPI, the international umbrella for recording industry associations like the US's RIAA, announced it was suing nearly 2,000 P2P service users in 10 countries. Reuters added that the IFPI released data showing it had lost 1 billion pounds ($1.8 billion) in the past three years, due to file-sharing (see "File-sharing realities for families"). But piracy isn't only on the P2P front. Two California men "involved in what US authorities called the largest bust of pirated music CDs [burning some 200,000 of them] and computer software in America each pleaded guilty to five criminal counts on Monday, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, if you're looking for *legal* ("podsafe") music to enhance your homemade videos (so they won't get deleted from YouTube.com because the copyright owners complained to the Webmaster), PCWorld has some sources (and explains "fair use" in these days of self-published media). Finally, the Associated Press updates us on the argument between Apple and the record labels on pricing of legal online music.