RIAA Files 477 New Filesharing Lawsuits

Fallen Kell writes "According to the CNN story, the RIAA has filed another round of lawsuits against filesharers. This round has many college students who are allegedly sharing music on their university networks. Again, the defendants are listed only by their university IP addresses. No lawsuit has gone to trial yet out of the 2,454 litigations started by the RIAA since it began its crackdown."

Comments

When will the backlash come?

[Jaywalk]

At what point will this prompt a countersuit? Everyone knows the RIAA is suing music downloaders, so it stands to reason that the music downloaders will take steps to hide their identities, including using other people's accounts. If the RIAA stays true to form, they're going to assume that an IP address definitely identifies the culprit, when that is nowhere near true. When do they become legally liable for the false accusations?

Re:When will the backlash come?

[The Analog Kid]

Some lady in New Jersey is suing the RIAA on racketeering laws, saying that the RIAA is extorting money from filesharers by filing these mass suits and then settling because there is no way these people can legally fight the RIAA.

Re:When will the backlash come?

[koganuts]

Yeah here's the info:

RIAA sued under gang laws

Last modified: February 18, 2004, 1:39 PM PST
By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

It's probably not the first time that record company executives have been likened to Al Capone, but this time a judge might have to agree or disagree.

A New Jersey woman, one of the hundreds of people accused of copyright infringement by the Recording Industry Association of America, has countersued the big record labels, charging them with extortion and violations of the federal antiracketeering act.

Through her attorneys, Michele Scimeca contends that by suing file-swappers for copyright infringement, and then offering to settle instead of pursuing a case where liability could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the RIAA is violating the same laws that are more typically applied to gangsters and organized crime.

"This scare tactic has caused a vast amount of settlements from individuals who feared fighting such a large institution and feel victim to these actions and felt forced to provide funds to settle these actions instead of fighting," Scimeca's attorney, Bart Lombardo, wrote in documents filed with a New Jersey federal court. "These types of scare tactics are not permissible and amount to extortion."

Scimeca is one of a growing number of people fighting the record industry's copyright infringement campaign against file-swappers, although few have used such creative legal strategies.

According to the RIAA, which filed its latest round of lawsuits against 531 as-yet-anonymous individuals on Tuesday, it has settled with 381 people, including some who had not yet actually had suits filed against them yet. A total of nearly 1,500 people have been sued so far.

The industry group says that "a handful" of people have countersued, using a variety of claims.

"If someone prefers not to settle, they of course have the opportunity to raise their objections in court," an RIAA representative said. "We stand by our claims."

Few if any of the cases appear to have progressed far, however. The first RIAA lawsuits against individuals were filed more than five months ago, although the majority of people targeted have been part of the "John Doe" campaigns against anonymous individuals this year.

Several individuals and companies have started by fighting the RIAA attempts to identify music swappers though their Internet service providers (ISPs).

The most prominent, known by the alleged file-swapper's screen name "Nycfashiongirl," resulted in at least a temporary victory for the computer user. A Washington, D.C., court ruled in December that the RIAA's initial legal process for subpoenaing ISP subscriber identities before filing lawsuits was illegal. Because "Nycfashiongirl" had been targeted under this process, the RIAA dropped its request for her identity.

However, that may have provided only a temporary reprieve. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group that is closely following the RIAA's campaign, the Internet address used by "Nycfashiongirl" was included in the batch of lawsuits filed on Tuesday against anonymous individuals, raising the likelihood that she will be drawn back into the courts.

Separate attempts to fight subpoenas are ongoing in North Carolina and St. Louis, where the American Civil Liberties Union and ISP Charter Communications are respectively challenging the RIAA's information requests.

In San Francisco, computer user Raymond Maalouf has taken the first steps toward fighting the RIAA's suits. His daughters were the ones that used Kazaa to download music, and one of them even wound up in last month's Super Bowl advertisement for Pepsi's iTunes promotion, which featured a handful of teens caught in the RIAA dragnet.

In documents filed with San Francisco courts, Maalouf's attorneys noted tha

Re:When will the backlash come?

[bechthros]

false logic again. Just because nobody *has* shown up to claim that yet doesn't mean they haven't been *able* to. There could well be people who've already pleaded out who seriously didn't do it, but were so terrified of fighting an entire industry and the costs of doing so that they figured it would be easier to make the payout. Just as there are lots of women who are raped who never report it, and victims of organized crime who pay protection money, etc etc. Next.

Re:When will the backlash come?

[RickHunter]

Even worse is that its literally impossible to prove your innocence. Any logs you have can be doctored just as easily as the RIAA can doctor their logs, and most courts are going to be a hell of a lot less likely to believe you. If, OTOH, the Judge places a reasonable burden of evidence on the RIAA, it becomes impossible for them to continue their case. (As was done in Canada, and which the Liberal Party has promised to change if they're re-elected.)

Re:When will the backlash come?

[AuMatar]

Yes, you are. Right to a fair and speedy trial, right to due process, innocent until proven guilty, any of these ring a bell?

Re:When will the backlash come?

[squiggleslash]

You can still have those things. However, if you're guilty, you're likely to lose. A fair trial isn't one where you win, regardless of your guilt or innocence.

I don't see any evidence that the RIAA has settled a lawsuit that it wouldn't have won anyway. I know people feel that that's unfair, that the copyright system should be more liberal than it actually is, but, in all honesty, whether it is or it isn't, that's the law, and it isn't racketeering to enforce the law, or to settle against a guilty party out of court.

Re:When will the backlash come?

[Anonymous Coward]

However, if you're guilty, you're likely to lose.

What country are you from?

Re:When will the backlash come?

[Shakrai]

I don't see any evidence that the RIAA has settled a lawsuit that it wouldn't have won anyway. I know people feel that that's unfair, that the copyright system should be more liberal than it actually is, but, in all honesty, whether it is or it isn't, that's the law, and it isn't racketeering to enforce the law, or to settle against a guilty party out of court.

IANAL but I don't think that having an IP address proves anything. Granted in a civil case you don't need to prove your case beyond all reasonable doubt -- but you do have to show that a preponderance of the evidence proves your case. What evidence are they going to have besides a downloaded song or two and an IP address?

I don't see how the IP address proves anything. Even if they tie it to my computer I could have been running an open WiFi network or had a compromised system. Say they do tie it to my computer -- guess what? The RIAA isn't a law enforcement agency. The jury would basically be relying on their good word that they actually found that IP address -- the classical "he said, she said" case. Do you think neutral non-interested parties are harvesting these addresses for RIAA? Somehow I doubt it.

Of course none of this matters because nobody has the money to actually fight one of these lawsuits. What a pity.

Re:When will the backlash come?

[Strider-BG]

Except one of the main problems in this country is that anyone can be sued for anything by anyone else with no consequence. The government only provides free legal assistance for criminal defendants, not civil ones so you have no choice but to hire a lawyer when you're sued. We need the system like they have (I believe) in the UK where if you're sued by someone and you win, they have to pay your legal bills. At least then it would incent companies to get their $hit straight straight. As it is there's no deterrent. My parents were bankrupted when they were sued by one of their employees for breach of contract - the guy's brother was an attorney and did it for free. My parents ended up winning but had spent over $100K in legal fees. Their small business couldn't recover from that ordeal and they had to shut it down, dragging themselves into bankruptcy.

So what now? Sue the former employee for a frivolous lawsuit? More legal fees to get what? The guy doesn't have that kind of cash. It's like getting mugged for $100K. They're fsck'd. Mom's working part-time at a doctor's office and Dad is looking for a job.

I hate our current President but the one campaign promise I hoped he'd deliver on is that of tort reform. Don't think that'll happen now though :(

Re:When will the backlash come?

[macdaddy357]

The backlash would be if everyone stops buying CDs, and the labels have no money to bring frivolous lawsuits. It seems, however that the latest teen pop shiat keeps flying right off the shelves, lining the pockets of the RIAA and affiliated labels' executives. Kids, stop feeding the hand that bites you!

Re:When will the backlash come?

[Shakrai]

Are you seriously that daft? They aren't going for the ones that download a song here or there...they're going after the ones with lots of songs available, downloading, uploading...

No, are you seriously that daft? I don't care who they are going after. My point is that even if they catch somebody who was sharing thousands of songs what kind of fucking evidence do they have that they themselves did not obtain?

My whole point (if you had bothered to read it) was that more likely then not any evidence they have they themselves collected. It's hardly impartial third-parties scanning the p2p networks looking for violators.

Picture this:
RIAA Expert Witness: I detected IP address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx on Kazaa. When I scanned the computer it had X number of copyrighted RIAA songs up for download.
RIAA Lawyer: And you downloaded some of them?
RIAA Expert Witness: Yes, I downloaded the latest Dido song and as you all know that song was published by Arista records who holds the copyright.
RIAA Lawyer: So this person was sharing copyrighted music?
RIAA Expert Witness: That's right.
RIAA Lawyer: I have nothing further for this witness.
Defense Attorney: Who do you work for?
RIAA Expert Witness: I work for such-and-such a company.
Defense Attorney: What does your company do?
RIAA Expert Witness: We scan the P2P networks looking for copyrighted material that belongs to our clients
Defense Attorney: Who are your clients?
RIAA Expert Witness: RIAA, MPAA, etc etc
Defense Attorney: Do we have any evidence besides your good word that my client was actually sharing these songs?
RIAA Expert Witness: We have the IP address and we downloaded sever...
Defense Attorney (cutting him off): So all this evidence was gathered by your company, correct?
RIAA Expert Witness: Yes, you could say that.
Defense Attorney: And your company provides this service to RIAA as a courtsey?
RIAA Expert Witness: No, we are compensenated for it.
Defense Attorney: So it's fair to say that RIAA pays your salary?
RIAA Expert Witness: Well I wouldn't exactly say th...
Defense Attorney (cutting him off): Right, we'll get back to that. Tell me, what actual evidence do you have that my client was the one sharing those songs? Isn't it possible that you got the wrong address or that someone else was using his computer?
RIAA Expert Witness: It's possible but it's not very...
Defense Attorney (cutting him off): Thank you. Is it possible for somebody to hack a computer on the Internet and use it to relay copyrighted material to P2P networks?
RIAA Expert Witness: Yes it's possible but again...
Defense Attorney (cutting him off): Yes and if the computer was hacked and used in this manner would it appear to your software that it was my client sharing the copyrighted material or the person who hacked his computer?
RIAA Expert Witness: It would appear to be your client.
Defense Attorney: Thank you. Now, about that IP address -- has your company ever provided the wrong address to RIAA?
RIAA Expert Witness: Not to my knowledge.
Defense Attorney: Really? What about this case [hands him newspaper article about 90 year old woman who was subpenoed] -- would you read that to the jury please?

Blah blah blah. I think you see where I am going. It would be interesting to see. All the power to the people who are fighting these suits. Whether or not file sharing is legal, moral, or whatnot, I won't support an industry that sues broke college students and 13 year old children. I bought my last piece of RIAA music when they filed the first round of lawsuits.

Re:When will the backlash come?

[Jim Starx]

I think the loser should pay only if the loser initiated the lawsuit.

Re:When will the backlash come?

[jp10558]

I agree with your sentiment. I don't like the RIAA nor their actions, however I do have a problem with this:

Whether or not file sharing is legal, moral, or whatnot, I won't support an industry that sues broke college students and 13 year old children. I bought my last piece of RIAA music when they filed the first round of lawsuits.

As anyone trying to be law abiding, it is wrong and unsound to suggest that any segment of the population be exempt from the laws(or exempt from punishment) no matter your personal views on the law. Certainly support fighiting to change the law. But it is dangerous to engender a disrespect for the law. Using hyperbole in an oft use cliche - would you say the same if they were murderers? What about commiting fraud? Identity theft? Where do you draw the line on crimes that are "ok" or "wrong to sue college students over"?

Re:When will the backlash come?

[rock_climbing_guy]

However, if you're guilty, you're likely to lose.

What country are you from?

I'd say he's obviously not from the same country as Bill Clinton, Gary Conditt, and OJ Simpson.

Re:When will the backlash come?

[cgenman]

He's from the USA, where if you are opposing the RIAA, and are guilty, you're likely to lose.

What he doesn't say, is that if you are opposing the RIAA, and are innocent, you're still likely to lose.

New TV show announced:

[Neil Blender]

Law & Order: RIAA

Re:New TV show announced:

[WwWonka]

Law & Order: RIAA

It's more like CSI:RIAA

Re:New TV show announced:

[base3]

Cool--got a .torrent?

A 437-0 record with 437 wins by knockout...

[LostCluster]

None of these lawsuits have gone to trial, but the RIAA has a record of 437 settlements and zero dismissals.

That is to say, nobody's been able to force the RIAA to trial and say that the lawsuit is outright bogus. Some have been sucessful in delay tactics, but everybody facing a trial date settles for their entire life savings rather than risk a bankruptcy-forcing verdict that takes away everything the defendant owns.

The RIAA's lawsuits have thus far been entirely spot-on. They've yet to accuse somebody who "didn't do it". Illegal music filesharers beware... you have a substatial risk of having to pay the piper. Don't do it.

Re:A 437-0 record with 437 wins by knockout...

[senatorpjt]

Couldn't the same be said for people who didn't do it? A lot of people take guilty pleas who were innocent rather than running the risk of receiving a full sentence, especially if the plea is for $3000. It would cost more than $3000 just for a retainer to get a lawyer.

Re:A 437-0 record with 437 wins by knockout...

[Quinn_Inuit]

They've yet to accuse somebody who "didn't do it".

Not quite accurate: RIAA Withdraws Piracy Lawsuit Against Mac User

Oh Canada

[Curtman]

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Re:Oh Canada

[phorm]

Yeah, you keep singing, and don't forgot to pay your tax on every CD-R or MP3 storage device that you buy... nevermind that that probably far exceeds losses by piracy

Re:Oh Canada

[Vargasan]

O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!

Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!

Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.

Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Protégera nos foyers et nos droits

None to trial?

[lukewarmfusion]

Are we supposed to take it that all of those have been settled (supposedly by paying the RIAA)?

I wonder if there are any instances of the RIAA saying "oh, well you clearly know your rights and have not done anything illegal, so never mind."

There was that Mac user who was accused of sharing over a P2P that isn't available for Mac...

Re:None to trial?

[Dr Caleb]

A good rule of thumb is "if you are not sure if you have the right to redistribute something, don't."

I have thousands of MP3's, named the same as albums, artists and tracks. They are 3k-4k of random noise. eg: "Madonna - Sympathy for the Devil.mp3"

As was pointed out during the original hearing to release names of users here in Canada, the CIRA had no proof of what was actually in the files that people were sharing. No one downloaded the files, then listened to them. There was no trail of evidence, so it was dismissed.

Share junk - let them download it - maintian CD backups of the originals - maintian download and connection logs - and countersue for racketeering. Get rich quick.

Fuck!

[dupper]

This is clearly all Keith J. Winstein's fault!

How many times do people have to be reminded:

DON'T TAUNT THE FUCKING DYNAMITE MONKEY

Time to scare your friends

[Brento]

Heh heh heh - time to dust off my fake RIAA lawsuit press release to scare your friends with. It's a press release ripped off Yahoo, but you can fill in your friend's name and occupation to generate an official-looking link. Tell them you saw their name in the press release, and watch 'em drop their coffee. The link to turn themselves down at the end of the article clues them in that they've been had. Generate a personalized link at http://www.brentozar.com/breakingnews/.

Last time I published this on Slashdot, a few people got fooled so badly they sent me threatening emails. Hee hee... Of course, last time, I didn't get near the top of the postings, so my server didn't get much of a load. I can almost hear the DSL line screaming in protest as I click Submit.

Oddly, I only had to change the date and a couple of numbers. The other headlines on the page still ring true as current: rebuilding Iraq, SCO's salvation, and the flash mob craze.

Permission mask?

[RobertB-DC]

from the hey-it's-a-nice-number dept.

I was trying to figure out what the editors meant by this, so I'm guessing they're talking about file permissions?

4 7 7 = 100 111 111

Owner has read-only
Group has read-write-execute
World has read-write-execute

The implication is clear. RIAA doesn't have execute access to their own lawsuits, so they don't plan on actually following through. However, the World will probably Execute by deleting their files. If not, then the Group (ie the university or corporate network) will Execute the offending User.

I've probably shown how little I understand both this joke *and* *NIX file permissions, all in one post.

Re:Defendants are listed only by their ip address

[DaHat]

or... NAT NAT NAT NAT NAT.

Although parking outside of someone's house with a cantenna is far more fun.

They had better win

[FreeLinux]

IANAL but, the RIAA had better win. If they don't win they will then have files 2,454 frivolous lawsuits. That's something the courts frown upon.

Protect your privacy

[fiber0pti]

http://mute-net.sourceforge.net/

This is about to lose meaning.

[Geancanach]

The more people they sue, the less meaning the lawsuits have. Realistically, how are they going to go after thousands of people? So their lawsuits will just become small news items that fail to scare anyone. What is the point?

Re:This is about to lose meaning.

[fishbowl]

"Do you look forward to doing prison time of ANY duration?"

Only the State can put you in prison. Last time I checked, RIAA was not an arm of the US Government.

How many people have actually had a hearing on a RIAA lawsuit?

Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone know where we can get a look at the list of IPs? I can't seem to find anything new on the EFF list of subpoened IPs

If you want to do something about it....

[phaetonic]

This website has a plethora of information regarding the RIAA's current fights, things you can do to fight them, and some anti-RIAA propaganda. Interesting stuff..

Doesn't make sense

[NEOtaku17]

Why is it that digital photos are not legal evidence in a court case but if they have your IP address doing the downloading(or uploading) automatically means you did it? Because computers don't lie? BS! I can think of a hundred ways that they could have false positives(such as IP spoofing and and using stolen remote connection and the like). I don't see how they could get it right everytime and that those people wouldn't fight it.

I wonder when they'll get ME..

[dustinbarbour]

Whoopety doo.. 437 lawsuits is it? And how many people did I see co nnected to KaZaA the other night? What? A million you say? Let's see. Up to now, I stand a scant 0.0437% chance of being sued. I think I'll take my chances.

Business 101

[pvt_medic]

What a great business model. You cant sell CD's because there nothing good coming out these days, and they are drastically over priced. So to stay economically viable you sue everyone. This way you dont havet to pay the artist and keep the money for yourself.

I would love to see what percentage of these agregious file sharers are sharing new songs or older songs.

RIAA

[perlfu_]

At this rate it seems they may never really put a dent in the file-sharing community!

Random observations

[boomgopher]

Not sure what exactly I'm trying to say with this post, but these are a few of my random observations on this:

Many/most people today (especially young people), do not view file sharing of music and videos as wrong.

The entertainment industry has done more in the past 50 years to promote a youthful recklessness/lawlessness and a 'fuck the man' attitude. Now that it's turning around and hurting their own profits, they're resorting to strongarm tactics to scare kids into line.

This puts a cloud of fear over my and other's perception of the entertainment industry. Entertainment is supposed to be a light distraction from real life - it's not a requirement like food, clothing, and shelter. As such, I feel like people are being treated like cattle, and are being force-fed 'entertainment'.

The percieved value of music and other types of media is dropping. I personally laugh at the idea of buying a $10-$20 CD anymore - it no longer seems worth it. $1 per mp3/aac/whatever is equally laughable. I'd personally be willing to pay about 10 cents a song (with no DRM). I have no idea if this is even economically feasible. But that still doesn't change what I'm willing to pay.

Re:cosmic slashdot reasoning

[dasmegabyte]

In the set of slasdot users, there are a number of philosophical subsets. This hypocrisy you think you see is based on the intersections of these subsets.

Here are a few:

1) A lot of slashdotters want to protect their right to use content in a digital manner.

2) A lot of them are also "libertarians" who don't like needless laws or nuisance litigation.

3) A lot of slashdotters are consumate do-it-yourselfers.

4) A lot of slashdotters have a strong sense of online community.

5) A lot of slashdotters have a problem with corporations and think they have too much power in society and government.

6) And a lot of slashdotters "still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea."

Combine 1, 2, 3 and 5 and you might think the RIAA enforcing copyright is a bad idea. Combine 1, 4, 5 and 6 and you might think enforcing the the GPL is a good idea. See? Different folks, different positions, and they aren't necessarily diametric.

Of course, i couldn't care less, as I'm securely in set 7 (likes Macintoshes). Which is a subset of group 6.

Re:Defendants are listed only by their ip address

[irokitt]

...Mushroom Mushroom!

Flea Market Pirates are the Real Crooks.

[Peschula]

I am in the independent music/ film industry in Wilmington, NC and couldn't care less about who downloads my music. However if I did have some success and money invested in advertising and one of these people burned it and sold it at the flea market I would sue. I don't think the RIAA gives two sh*ts about downloaders either - just the bootleggers. It goes the same for the alcohol industry and moonshiners. In a capitalist economic system you can't have a business without a license and avoid the ability for your product to be taxed. Also these flea market distributers don't have enough command to know how to do business research on their own - only steal.

Students: Ask your administrator!

[djcatnip]

seriously, other companies are charging institutions for the privelege of offering their draconian DRM laiden music services. iTunes on campus was announced this morning, and it's free for your school! ask your administrators to please sign up for it!

Here's an idea for a backlash

[Windcatcher]

I'm a Pennsylvania resident. This year, the polling between Bush and Kerry in my state couldn't be closer, and we have a lot of electoral votes. They will be fighting over my state like no other this year. I *always* vote, and until now I've always voted with the party with which I'm registered. I'm registered with one of the two major parties (I'm not saying which one because I want them *both* to squirm).

I say we start a petition in PA: unless the parties DO SOMETHING (as in *ENACT LAW*) about the current situation regarding fair use, reverse engineering, infinite copyright extension, etc. our votes are GOING TO A THIRD PARTY. It doesn't matter which one, as long as it's not one of the two major parties. Let's make our message clear: IF YOU WANT TO RETAIN OUR LOYALTY AND HAVE A SHOT AT GETTING THIS STATE, YOU WILL DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS BEFORE ELECTION DAY. I can't think of any greater kick in the political balls than this. The politicians have made it clear they don't care about us, so let's see how they respond to fear.

Transformative Uses of an MP3

[blckbllr]

I don't know how many of you speak legalese, but what about a transformative use of an MP3? When determining whether a person has engaged in copyright infringement through the use of a copyrighted material, courts often look at whether the use was a transformative one. In this context, "transformative" can mean "different from."

For those of you with access to law libraries, look at Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp., 280 F.3d 934 (9th Cir. 2002). The opinion in Kelly has been reissued, but it has not changed with respect to the discussion on transformative uses.

Unfortunately, I do not have the skills to implement the following idea:
What if someone could take an MP3, parse the audio signal into a series of colors and/or symbols, and reproduce that music as a digital image. For example, maybe using this software would reproduce a Korn song or a New Found Glory song into a landscape, artscape, or colorscape. This would probably constitute a transformative use because the music has been converted into a digital image. The next step would be for someone to write software that would take these digital images and re-interpreting them as music. However, the decoding process should work with any images, less a court find that the decoding software is contributing to copyright infringement. I think one tenant of copyright law is that so long as there are legal, noninfringing uses of the device, then the device is generally legal (e.g., a VCR).

Anyone given any thought to making transformative uses of MP3s? This way, one could distribute an "image" of New Found Glory's "Better Off Dead" without technically committing copyright infringement.

Love to hear your thoughts.

-BB