They're suing people who apparently are swapping a "substantial" amount of files, meaning around 1000-plus files of music. They do have an amnesty program, where you're asked not to stop using P2P but instead to stop sharing music files -- making perfect sense.

Now, let me see... all told I don't really share lots of files. I do have lots of mp3s, but I'm not sharing. So I guess they'll get to me in the later rounds, if they do at all.

"Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation," RIAA president Cary Sherman said in a statement. "But when your product is being regularly stolen, there comes a time when you have to take appropriate action."

The group, which represents the top music conglomerates, including BMG, EMI, Sony, Warner and Universal, blames a devastating 14 percent drop in album sales from 1999 to 2002 largely on pirated music.

"We simply cannot allow online piracy to continue destroying the livelihoods of artists, musicians, songwriters, retailers and everyone in the music industry," Sherman said.