Corporate reversal:Record label lawsuit campaign

The blunder: In 2003, the record labels started suing people it believed were downloading music for free on the Internet. The policy caused outrage among the public, who believed the industry was suing its biggest fans. Over five years, the Recording Industry Association of America filed some 35,000 suits.
Unhelpful PR: Lawsuits were filed against a 13-year-old girl and a dead person.

The reversal: At the end of 2008, the RIAA said it was abandoning its mass lawsuit policy. Its chairman, Mitch Bainwol, said the campaign had been effective in helping people understand downloading unauthorized music is illegal.(REUTERS)