Free for a Fee

A music piracy site for the truly lazy that debuted two months ago agreed Wednesday to shut down and to forfeit its domain to the Recording Industry Association of America, which brought a lawsuit that is now being settled. The deal also calls for the Aurous site’s developer, Florida resident Andrew Sampson, and others associated with the site to pay the RIAA $3 million in damages. Although it’s a sum that likely won’t ever be paid, it’s a judgement hanging over their heads and a sum that the RIAA believes sends a message of deterrence.

“Aurous appropriately agreed to shut down,” Cary Sherman, the RIAA chairman, said in an e-mailed statement. “It was the right thing to do. We hope this sends a strong signal that unlicensed services cannot expect to build unlawful businesses on the backs of music creators.”

The law is clearly on Sherman’s side, too. Under the US Copyright Act, the site’s backers faced monetary damages of up to $150,000 per track.