Madster ordered to filter music

The Recording Industry Association of America has won another battle in its war against illegal file sharing, as a US court has ordered Madster to filter the songs being traded via its network.

Judge Marvin Aspen ordered Madster to implement filtering technology to block the trade of copyrighted material following a case brought against the file sharing service by the RIAA, which last year forced similar measures upon Napster prior to the closure of the controversial peer-to-peer site.

The action serves as a timely reminder to the illegal file-swapping sites that the RIAA's dogged attempts to protect copyrighted material did not end with the closure of Napster.

Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, told Reuters: "Other unauthorised peer-to-peer networks should take note of this decision [and] should also take advantage of these technologies and prevent illegal trading of copyrighted works on their systems."

Madster is no stranger to legal action. It recently changed its name from Aimster after AOL complained that it bore too much of a resemblance to its AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) brand.