Update: RIAA Says Muxtape Hosting "Illegal Content"

Sam Gustin has learned that  Muxtape, the music sharing site that went down yesterday citing "a problem" with the RIAA, has received numerous requests to take down content the industry group deems "illegal."

Those requests apparently went unheeded -- until yesterday.

I've just received the following statement from a RIAA spokesperson regarding Muxtape.

"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. 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."

Ultimately, this is a shame, because Muxtape was offering something the recording industry needs desperately right now: more venues for people to discover new music.

Nevertheless, this episode indicates that the RIAA's campaign to crack down on what it deems illegal music hosting and sharing continues unabated.