I know some of this has been posted previously, but I didnt learn of the specifics of how they planned to do it until this article. If this is a repost, my apologies. 
But copyright holders, including record labels, are now experimenting with new ways to cut down on copyright infringement. As described by sources at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), one method uses software to masquerade as a file-swapper online. Once the software has found a computer offering a certain song, it attempts to block other potential traders from downloading the song.....
The new strategy would take advantage of file-swapping networks' own weaknesses, amplifying them to the point where download services appear even more clogged and slow to function than they are today. Because most peer-to-peer services are unregulated, the quality of connections and speed of downloads already varies wildly based on time of day and geographic location.
The software technology, according to industry sources, would essentially act as a downloader, repeatedly requesting the same file and downloading it very slowly, essentially preventing others from accessing the file. While stopping short of a full denial-of-service attack, the method could substantially clog the target computer's Internet connection
AND, even though the immunity text never made it to the anti-terrorism bill,
...
A copy of the legislation proposed by the RIAA last week would appear to have given the group broad latitude to attack file-swappers' computers without suffering any civil liability.
No civil liability would result from "any impairment of the availability of data, a program, a system or information, resulting from measures taken by an owner of copyright," the proposed text read.
That language never made it into the antiterrorism bill, however. Several legislators of both parties objected, and the RIAA's text was dropped. Industry lobbyists are pursuing a different tack that they say would still allow them to pursue the current technological plan, however.
The new technological techniques, which would essentially hog a file-traders' Net connection so that genuine song-seekers couldn't get in, are expected to be taken up across the copyright holder community.
RIAA story
But copyright holders, including record labels, are now experimenting with new ways to cut down on copyright infringement. As described by sources at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), one method uses software to masquerade as a file-swapper online. Once the software has found a computer offering a certain song, it attempts to block other potential traders from downloading the song.....
The new strategy would take advantage of file-swapping networks' own weaknesses, amplifying them to the point where download services appear even more clogged and slow to function than they are today. Because most peer-to-peer services are unregulated, the quality of connections and speed of downloads already varies wildly based on time of day and geographic location.
The software technology, according to industry sources, would essentially act as a downloader, repeatedly requesting the same file and downloading it very slowly, essentially preventing others from accessing the file. While stopping short of a full denial-of-service attack, the method could substantially clog the target computer's Internet connection
AND, even though the immunity text never made it to the anti-terrorism bill,
...
A copy of the legislation proposed by the RIAA last week would appear to have given the group broad latitude to attack file-swappers' computers without suffering any civil liability.
No civil liability would result from "any impairment of the availability of data, a program, a system or information, resulting from measures taken by an owner of copyright," the proposed text read.
That language never made it into the antiterrorism bill, however. Several legislators of both parties objected, and the RIAA's text was dropped. Industry lobbyists are pursuing a different tack that they say would still allow them to pursue the current technological plan, however.
The new technological techniques, which would essentially hog a file-traders' Net connection so that genuine song-seekers couldn't get in, are expected to be taken up across the copyright holder community.
RIAA story
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