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RIAA Tactical Legal Victory vs SBC

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the no-privacy-left dept.

lurker412 writes "The RIAA has won a tactical victory in its legal battle with SBC Communications/PacBell Internet Services. CNet News reports that a San Francisco judge has moved the case to a District of Columbia federal court. SBC had resisted turning over the identities of purported coyright infringers to the RIAA. While the San Francisco court ruled on procedural grounds only, the DC court is the same one that previously ruled against Verizon in a similar attempt to contest the DMCA."

3 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. RIAA is just a corrupt oligarchy by randall_burns · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The fundamental question is how long can they continue along this path before the public demands a fundamental reform of copyright laws and intellectual property mechanisms.


    The simple fact is that the RIAA is a pretty dang poor mechanism for mediating between the public and artists(i.e. the transaction costs are just too high-and this will become more obvious in time). These various court battles having nothing to do with creative effort and everything to do with maintaining power and control.

  2. Passing the buck by dubdays · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It really irks me that this court didn't have the balls to stand up to the RIAA. Why does it all have to go up the court-ladder? Why can't these judges just make an informed, reasonable decision. It bothers me even more that the high courts in this country always seem to lean more toward the side of big business.

  3. Re:Slightly offtopic question by EmagGeek · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The RIAA can sue on behalf of anyone they want to provided that person had not issued a decree that the RIAA may not do so.

    Anyone can sue anyone else on behalf of any third party - take a class action, for example. Someone sue's an alleged negligent automobile manufacturer on behalf of everyone who owns one, and it is up to the individual owners to "opt out" of the lawsuit to avoid losing their rights to obtain their own suit.

    THEORETICALLY SPEAKING, The RIAA can sue all downloaders in a class action on behalf of all artists, and then those artists, even though they are not members of the RIAA, would have to "opt out" of the lawsuit. The RIAA could potentially grab damage rights away from thousands of non-affiliated artists, without their knowledge or consent, and steal all of _that_ money, too.

    All they are required to do is put an ad in a paper of reasonable market coverage in the area in which the principal plaintiff has their principal place of business, which means one ad in the LA paper that 99.99% of artists would not see. After the opt-out deadline, the RIAA would then own the damage rights that previously belonged to all of those artists. Again, THEORETICALLY SPEAKING.

    In any case, do you think that artists are seeing a damn dime of all this settlement money? It's all going to the lawyers and RIAA executives.