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Class Action Initiated Against RIAA

Posted by kdawson on from the bandwagon-starting-to-roll dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Ever since the RIAA's litigation campaign began in 2003, many people have been suggesting a class action against the RIAA. Tanya Andersen, in Oregon, has taken them up on it. The RIAA's case against this disabled single mother, Atlantic v. Andersen, has received attention in the past, for her counterclaims against the RIAA including claims under Oregon's RICO statute, the RIAA's hounding of her young daughter for a face-to-face deposition, the RIAA's eventual dropping of the case 'with prejudice,' and her lawsuit against the RIAA for malicious prosecution, captioned Andersen v. Atlantic. Now she's turned that lawsuit into a class action. The amended complaint seeking class action status (PDF) sues for negligence, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, federal and state RICO, abuse of process, malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, trespass, invasion of privacy, libel and slander, deceptive business practices, misuse of copyright law, and civil conspiracy."

12 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. About time someone did this by dhanav · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now is the time for all those who complained about RIAA to join in and take this to a good conclusion.

    1. Re:About time someone did this by NewYorkCountryLawyer · · Score: 5, Informative

      I agree, but how? NewYorkCountryLawyer, where can we direct our support and/or funds??? Ms. Andersen's attorneys. Their contact information is at the top of the first page of the amended complaint.
      --
      Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful
  2. More, please! by AltGrendel · · Score: 5, Funny

    sues for negligence, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, federal and state RICO, abuse of process, malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, trespass, invasion of privacy, libel and slander, deceptive business practices, misuse of copyright law, and civil conspiracy.

    Can you add sheer stupidity and pigheadedness to that?

    Oh, and while you're at it, tell them that we plain old don't like them.

    --
    The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination

    - Douglas Adams

  3. Add me by Edward+Ka-Spel · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, I have been illegally downloading music for years, I want to be a part of this class action suit.

    Oh, wait... Umm... nevermind.

  4. On the subject of a class action suit by Haiku+4+U · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear RIAA,
    Turnabout is fair play, you
    rich smokers-of-cocks.

    Love, Haiku 4 U
    P.S. I look forward to
    great music sans you.

  5. In addition to RIAA ... by xednieht · · Score: 5, Informative

    she names a number of other defendants including:
    Atlantic Recording Corp.
    Priority Records
    Capitol Records
    UMG Recordings
    BMG

    And lets not forget that RIAA is just a front organization for a host of others listed here --> http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=271437&cid =20249893

    The Association has no product per se, the alleged racketeering is therefore being funded by it's members.

    I wish her luck as well a success.

    --

    Hope is the currency of fools
  6. Overhyped by MajinBlayze · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This seems a bit overhyped to me. Yes, I want the RIAA to go away, I want the RIAA to stop using brutal tactics, however, they do have the legal right to prosecute people illegally distributing their IP.

    Please note that this is specifically for those wrongfully accused. The best we can see from this is getting the RIAA to calm down (a good end no doubt).

    For those who are wondering, this will not be the death knell for DRM and the RIAA.
    -1 flamebait +1 UnfortunatelyTrue

    --
    "Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time." Danny Vinyard -American History X
  7. Re:So, Mr. NewYorkCountryLawyer, by WPIDalamar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    $10 says the lawyers are the only winners.

  8. Re:I disagree. by mini+me · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It is really sad to see society so blatantly breaking the law without any care about the ramifications.


    If society as a whole continually and blatantly breaks a law, the law is unjust. The ramifications are not to be taken into consideration, society has already spoken and are willing to accept the consequences of their actions. What is really sad are the people who are trying to hold on to the last grasp of something that society is not willing to accept any longer.
  9. Re:So, Mr. NewYorkCountryLawyer, by NewYorkCountryLawyer · · Score: 5, Informative

    What are your estimates of this case's success? I'd rather hear it from the expert than Slashdot's myriad self-described ones. My guess is that there will be substantial motion practice involving (a) defendants' attempts to dismiss as many of the theories as they can, and (b) certification of a class. If at the end of all of that a class is certified by the Court, the RIAA has a big problem, and will probably have to come to terms with Ms. Andersen and those she represents.

    The vast majority of class actions are neither won, nor lost, but settled. In this case, I would imagine that the defendants' shareholders are already starting to wake up to the reality that they have been played for suckers by their lawyers, and the companies will be most eager to settle.
    --
    Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful
  10. Re:I disagree. by TristanGrimaux · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have points to mod you up, because your comment is certainly not flamebait... but then I could not reply to you and I think it is important to tell you how wrong you are.

    First of all, RIAA does not care about IP, they care about distribution rights. They do not care about the artists as their contracts are always shady and a scam. The problem with RIAA is that their business model does not fit in this new era and they are trying to criminalize everyone of us.

    But not content with that, they are suing common people to spread fear. They think everyone in the Internet is a burglar and that they have the right to do ANYTHING to stop us from stealing them. So as the old Sony rootkit did, they can mess with your computer and erase any file in it without a court order as they tried to with the patriotic act of GWB. Their acts of hate escalates so high they are trying to force us to use special devices or DRM so we loose the right to hear a purchased song after a while, or after a number of times we have heard it. Or to restrict us to listen a song we have paid for, only on one device.

    Law is made in the interest of society. Society makes the law, not the RIAA. And the RIAA will face the people and this is going to hurt. Oh Yeah!

    --
    Donde Ser Geek No Duele
  11. Re:So, Mr. NewYorkCountryLawyer, by NewYorkCountryLawyer · · Score: 5, Informative

    Am I correct in thinking that if she decides to settle without this coming to a conclusion in court, that nothing of any good would come out of this for anyone else that might choose to go on the offensive against the **AA? Can you use the verdict of a class action suit as a precedent for another class action suit, or is that kind of thing only reserved for other types of cases? If she did decide that she had a good chance of winning, and stuck it out to a verdict, and if it was decided in her favor, would that open the door for others to use that as precedence in their own class action suits against the **AA? Most likely any settlement would involve a consent decree against the RIAA's practices and would include a settlement fund, so yes a lot of good would come from it. The consent decree would probably have a permanent and lasting value.
    --
    Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful