Slashdot Mirror
Oregon AG Seeks to Investigate RIAA Tactics
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Turning the tables on the RIAA's attempt to subpoena information from the University of Oregon, that state's Attorney General has now filed additional papers to conduct immediate discovery into the RIAA's 'data mining' techniques. These techniques include the use of unlicensed investigators, the turning over of subpoenaed information to collection agencies, and the obtaining of personal information from computers. The AG pointed out (pdf) that 'Because Plaintiffs routinely obtain ex parte discovery in their John Doe infringement suits ... their factual assertions supporting their good cause argument are never challenged by an adverse party and their investigative methods remain free of scrutiny. They often settle their cases quickly before defendants obtain legal representation and begin to conduct discovery.'"
Wow, hopefully this isn't shot down in the court system, and honestly if there's any common sense left in the courts (which there seems to be a slowly increasing amount of) it won't be. There have been far too many cases of snooping going unchecked, be it RIAA, NSA, FBI, etc.
Can't wait for updates to this one.
The original generic sig.
What does this mean, if I read it correctly is this really the state department responsible for prosecuting CRIMINAL cases who has launched ON THEIR OWN an investigation of RIAA methods?
Is Oregon some red state of the US? Is the prosecutor involved to old to care about his career?
I hate to get excited over nothing but this seems like a major setback for the RIAA and their underhanded tactics. A real criminal investigation? Neat.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
The RIAA keep buying the pot. They go all in, and the little guy folds. They don't have to show their cards unless someone calls their bluff. Seems the AG is willing to do that with the state of Oregon as a backer.
More than that. The legal system in the US is set up so that even if you have an ironclad defense -- but don't bring it up at the right time -- then you waive that defense. This is just one of the reasons you do not represent yourself unless you have no choice at all. The justification is that otherwise, no judgement would ever be final because you could continually add new legal theories to the case. In fact, this is very similar to SCO's tactics (which were quite effective at causing huge delays).
In this case, a number of promising avenues haven't been explored because nobody got good attorneys to bring them up. So the issue gets waived, the court accepts the RIAA's version because it was "undisputed". Recall the RIAA suits have been going on for a number of years, but it was only a couple months ago that this PI licensing issue was even mentioned -- because nobody ever did their homework before.
Is there any hope that they'll indict these folks with criminal charges? Especially for the "unlicensed investigators" bit?
Because I'd sure love to see MediaSentry/BayTSP get shafted like MediaDefender was. With any luck, the latter will go out of business given that they lost the better part of a million dollars over the email leak and they were already operating pretty far into the red.
Also, is there any chance of this opening them up to lawsuits from those who were "investigated"? In other words, might Oregon (or other) residents be able to file a class action even if they already settled with the RIAA?
I'd love to see more lawyers set their sights on the RIAA. When you declare war on your customers (and yes, even "pirates" buy stuff, unless they're boycotting them now), you're NOT going to win the war.