UK music industry sues downloaders

LONDON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The British Phonographic Industry Thursday said it is suing 28 file sharers in a renewed crackdown on Internet music piracy.

BPI's targets include what the group describes as "large-scale uploaders" who use KaZaA, Imesh, Grokster, Bearshare and WinMX peer-to-peer networks, the Mirror reported.

For six months BPI has been sending thousands of messages to major users warning that the networks were being monitored.

"These are not people casually downloading the odd track," BPI chairman Peter Jamieson said. "They are uploading music on a massive scale, effectively stealing the livelihoods of thousands of artists and the people who invest in them."