A US federal court ruled yesterday that MP3.com, the Internet music distributor, is liable for copyright infringement. New York district judge Mr Jed Rakoff granted partial summary judgment in favour of a suit brought by the Recording Industry Association of America, which charges that MP3's mechanism allowing music to be downloaded from the Internet by users is a violation of copyright. MP3.com's web site, which allows consumers to store and listen to their own CDs from any computer with Internet access, has been the source of growing controversy in the music industry.