The Recording Industry Association of America has announced that it is set to sue Russian music firm Mediaservices for $1.6 trillion. Mediaservices also owns AllofMP3.com and allTunes.com and is accused of selling music illegally. Apparently the RIAA want $150,000 for each of the 11 million pirated songs. A spokesperson for AllofMP3.com claimed that the suit is unjustified because the company doesn't operate in New York and obeys Russian Copyright laws - it even pays some of its profit to the Russian equivalent of the RIAA, the Russian Organisation for Multimedia, which the RIAA argues has no right to exist. It has been no secret that the RIAA has been unhappy with Mediaservices, but this is the first real action they've taken.

Apple is set to face yet another lawsuit, this time over the supposed monopoly that the company has in portable media player sales and online music downloads. The lawsuit against Apple claims that by linking its iTunes software to the iPod, other companies are unable to compete because of the difficulty created by the copy protection methods used in music downloads. Songs downloaded via Apple's music store can only be played using iTunes or on an iPod, with songs bought on other sites being difficult to play on iPods because Apple uses its own copy protection. Apple controls about 75% of music online music downloads.

Green Welling LLP filed a nationwide class action lawsuit on behalf of the owners of the Nintendo Wii against Nintendo of America, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The class action lawsuit arose as result of the defective nature of the Nintendo Wii.

California based Interlink Electronics is suing Nintendo for some parts of the Wii Remote that Interlink claims they have already patented. In patent #6,850,221, which was granted in February 2005, Interlink patented a "trigger-operated electronic device", which is only one aspect of the Wii Remote. Interlink is also claiming that the Wii's pointer functionality is infringing copyrights. Interlink wants a trial by jury, and if it wins, they want damage compensation and a ban on the allegedly infringing products.

Microsoft sued Belkin in August for illegitimately using "U2 technology", which allows keyboard and mice to detect what type of connection is needed. Today, Microsoft is "pleased to announce" that they have reached a settlement. As part of the settlement, Belkin will take a license for U2 technology. Microsoft has been trying to get Belkin as a licensee for over 2 years.