RIAA: "Forget Lawsuits, No More Internet Service"

Apparently the RIAA is going to stop suing people who illegally download music online. What's their alternative? Your internet service could be disconnected permanently and/or you can be charged for the downloaded songs on your monthly internet bill.

The new strategy (as reported by the Wall Street Journal): If the music industry finds out that you're swapping music files online, it'll send an e-mail to your ISP (agreements have already hashed out agreements with "some" unnamed service providers, apparently), which will in turn forward the message to you—probably with a little "P.S." asking you to stop. [Update: CNET has a copy of the RIAA's form letter to ISPs.]

If you don't stop, well ... your service provider probably won't sue you, but it might slow down your broadband connection, or cut off your service altogether.

So, why has the RIAA changed the play? Well, maybe it's been looking at reports like this one from the NPD Group, which shows that U.S. CD sales continue to slide, while the number of tunes shared via P2P sites continues to increase, despite all the litigation.

And then there's the disastrous headlines, as the RIAA relentlessly tracked down and sued tens of thousands of alleged music pirates. Among them: Kids, octogenarians, and a few dead people. [x]

I've always thought the RIAA's tactics were foolish and completely ineffective but with this new strategy, I can see them doing some harm. You might not have to worry about getting sued anymore but you're internet service might get disconnected. What are your thoughts on this issue?