RIAA puts smack down on Muxtape

One day after its site went down under suspicious circumstances described as a "problem," it seems Muxtape had a bullseye placed on its back by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ever since the site’s launch earlier in 2008.

Sites such as Muxtape should be protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), but even the site’s temporary setback can be overcome.

If you’re not familiar with Muxtape, it was a web site that allowed users to upload music tracks and then create playlists of music that could be shared with other users.

Now that Muxtape has been temporarily eliminated, the RIAA will most likely again target Pandora, which lets visitors create a radio station of artists and songs.

The official Muxtape web site has a picture of a cassette in the center of the page with the following disclaimer:  "Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA."

"For the past several months, we have communicated our legal concerns with the site and repeatedly tried to work with them to have illegal content taken down," the RIAA said in an official statement.  "Muxtape was hosting copies of copyrighted sound recordings without authorization from the copyright owners. Making these recordings available for streaming playback also requires authorization from the copyright owners. Muxtape has not obtained authorization from our member companies to host or stream copies of their sound recordings."

Bloggers and anti-RIAA critics said Muxtape’s design let music fans discover music that otherwise would not have been discovered.  The RIAA has continued its assault on people sharing music via P2P networks and organized music distribution web sites.

It appears Muxtape did not pay any licensing fees for uploaded music, and it is unknown if the RIAA is seeking monetary compensation over lost revenue.