But the trade group on its antipiracy campaign.

In a brief document explaining its decision, the RIAA said it now plans to work more closely with ISPs to identify alleged copyright infringers and try to persuade them to stop. Under the so-called graduated response program, the RIAA would notify participating ISPs when it discovers customers of theirs that are engaging in what it claims are illegal downloading activities.

Depending on the specific agreements between the RIAA and individual ISPs, service providers would either forward copyright infringement notices from the RIAA to subscribers or notify customers about the notices and ask them to cease and desist. The program allows for a series of escalating sanctions against repeat offenders by ISPs, such as throttling back their network speeds and eventually terminating their service.

The document released by the RIAA said that the trade group is working with and several leading but unnamed ISPs on the new effort. It added that Cuomo has already asked several ISPs to cooperate with the RIAA.

The RIAA said that record companies would still retain the right to sue egregious copyright infringers. But the strategy of sending out pre-litigation letters asking alleged copyright violators to settle or face legal action will stop, the group said. The RIAA also will no longer file "John Doe" lawsuits in which it lists an IP address and charges the person to whom that address is assigned.