All access, all the time

In a twist in its war on piracy, the music industry has slapped a lawsuit upon one of the internet's longest-running bulletin boards, Usenet.

Though Usenet's userbase has seen a steady decline, the service is occasionally accessed for trading pictures, video and music.

The Fargo-based service has been around since the late '70s, and unlike other messageboards, has no central server, relying instead on servers strewn across the globe, according to the Globe and Mail.

The RIAA will attempt to prove that Usenet.com encourages illegal file-sharing on its network, which may not be difficult. The site calls itself "Today's hottest way of sharing MP3 files over the Internet."