Hollywood's major movie studios Thursday filed a second round of lawsuits against computer network operators using a relatively new technology that allows people to share films and TV shows on the Internet without permission.
The suits, filed by the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents Hollywood's major film studios, were filed in jurisdictions across the United States, but a spokeswoman for the MPAA declined to give an exact number.
The action was taken against computer networks that use peer-to-peer software, known as BitTorrent and eDonkey, that allow computer users to swap digital files of movies and TV shows that, in some cases, have been copied illegally.
In mid-December, the MPAA launched a first round of similar suits on four continents resulting in action against people in Austria, France, the Netherlands and Finland, the MPAA said in a statement.
The MPAA has been actively pursuing people who violate U.S. copyright law by copying films and TV shows without permission and then selling the copies on the street, in black markets, or posting digital files of the programs on the Internet so other can download them to their personal computers.
Hollywood's major studios claim sales of illegally copied videos and DVDs cost them over $3.5 billion annually in lost revenues and are very concerned the proliferation of illegally copied digital files will boost their losses.
In addition to the lawsuits, the MPAA said it had issued "takedown notices" to Web service providers that host eDonkey servers and that it has sued Web sites that offer copies of movies that infringe copyright law.