RIAA Campaign Against Students Hits Stormier Seas

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "It's been astutely observed that the RIAA's "ex parte" campaign against "John Doe" college students seems to have run into much stormier waters than its campaign against regular folks. Discovery motions were thrown out by the judges in cases involving the University of New Mexico and the College of William and Mary, and motions to quash have been made by students at Boston University, Oklahoma State University, and the University of South Florida. The RIAA might find it particularly troubling that the students are coming in armed with substantial expert witness declarations attacking the entire underpinning of the RIAA's case, that the students are finding each other and banding together, and that the Chairman of Boston University's Computer Science Department went to bat — as an expert witness — for the BU students."

Comments

Now there's education

[kalpol]

Can't beat that for practical life experience.

Students are the biggest activist demographic

[athloi]

Few people have the time that students do, or the drive, toward activism of many types. They're such a powerful demographic that presidential candidates solicit them. Attacking them aggressively is risky but if the RIAA wins this one, everyone else is going to be gravy.

Re:Students are the biggest activist demographic

[MightyMartian]

RIAA can only win, at best, something of a tactical stalemate. In the long run, everything is stacked up against the record companies as they are currently formulated. The digital cat is out of the bag, and the album is dead. Just as bad, for RIAA, is the fact that the generation that they're going after right now will be the legislators that they may be having to deal with in a few years. So even if they manage to keep their crippled and outdated business plan working, eventually they're going to hit the iPod generation head on.

From a link in the article...

[do_kev]

"...In addition, Shutovsky is directed to provide the names and addresses of all people who have used his PC in the three years prior to his being sued. According to his response to the RIAA's requests, those who may have used the computer include his wife, an unspecified list of "short-term house guests," and eight other people who live in Russia, Ukraine, or the UK. The RIAA says that it would like to contact the Shutovsky's houseguests to see if it would be "reasonable" to take depositions..."

And so continues the witch-hunt for dear ol' 162.83.177.207.

I hope the new generation of musicians refuse to sign record labels with major companies. Considering how powerful a home studio can now be, it's a whole lot more feasible than it was 30 years ago..

Defeating the RIAA != Supporting Piracy

[Shambly]

The problem with the RIAA is that it has very questionable practices in regards to its sending subpeona's and when it sues people not that piracy is right.

The problem is that it believes itself to be a police force with powers to investigate and aprehend criminals. It does not.

However that does not mean that piracy is ok. It only means that evil corporations are evil. While you may argue that information wants to be free and copyrights are badly flawed that does not mean your piracy is not against the law. It's the practice of the RIAA that are unlawful not its intent.

Re:So do we

[TheMeuge]

That's the thing. Universities have lawyers too... they're called the FACULTY. There's tons of them, and given that they probably taught the RIAA lawyers, they're pretty dangerous.

They're also academic in their understanding of the law, which means that given the shaky ground RIAA lawsuits are standing on, they are unlikely to win.

Re:out of date marketing methods

[jedidiah]

It isn't their choice.

DRM violates the social contract that allows them to control distribution of creative works.

DRM should void any copyright protection.

If the Librarian of Congress can't archive it, then the FBI shouldn't be used to prosecute those that pirate the work and the US Courts should not be used by corporations to sue those that the FBI won't prosecute.

Re:good

[FreeGamer]

It's not university resources that is the cause of this backlash. When the RIAA was prosecuting citizens, these are busy people with little time and tight budgets and generally isolated from other people being pursued by the RIAA.

Students... now... these are groups of young people with common interests and copious amounts of free time, who are looking for worthy causes to fight that can define their generation, and have much less to lose as they don't have mortgages, families, and savings. Except for lawyers, you couldn't target a worse group of people. Trying to come down harder on them will make them come together more and strengthen their resolve to stamp out this persecution, a perceived abuse of their civil and human rights.

Good. It's time the RIAA got it's ass kicked and it's especially humbling that it's students doing it - probably the worst offenders on the RIAA hitlist.