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Reports on the copyright infringement lawsuits initiated by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and its various national groups against file sharers in Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy and France, as of March 2005. Fines paid by British defendants; Petition signed politicians and musicians in France calling an end to litigation and national debate on file sharing; Variation in legal procedures from country to country.

The article reports that Italy's fiscal police Guardia di Finanza have imposed million-dollar fines on seven music uploaders involved in a nationwide illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing network called Discotequezone. All seven also face criminal trials which, under Italy's appeals procedures, could take up to four years to reach a sentence.