Slashdot Mirror


RIAA Backs Down On "Unlicensed Investigator"

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Texas grandmother Rhonda Crain got the RIAA to drop its monetary claims against her after she filed counterclaims against the record companies for using an investigator, MediaSentry, which is not licensed to conduct investigations in the State of Texas. The RIAA elected to drop its claims rather than wait for the Judge to decide the validity of Ms. Crain's charges (PDF) that the plaintiff record companies were 'aware that the... private investigations company was unlicensed to conduct investigations in the State of Texas specifically, and in other states as well... and understood that unlicensed and unlawful investigations would take place in order to provide evidence for this lawsuit, as well as thousands of others as part of a mass litigation campaign.' Similar questions about MediaSentry's unlicensed investigations were raised recently by the State Attorney General of Oregon in Arista v. Does 1-17"

14 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. An effective weapon for now... by Chabil+Ha' · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...but the Borg will adapt.

    --
    We're all hypocrites. We all have hidden parts, it's the contrast between them that make us more a hypocrite than others
  2. House of Cards by Cpt_Kirks · · Score: 2, Funny

    Their whole house of cards is coming down.

    Actually, it is more like one of those building implosions. It starts slow, then...

    The RIAA is getting hit more and more lately. More judges are finding against them. More people fighting back. More states and schools refusing to play along. 2008 may be the year they give it up.

    Maybe.

    1. Re:House of Cards by Malevolyn · · Score: 4, Funny

      Old ladies are pwning noobs better than I can, these days.

      --
      Your ad here.
  3. Re:More important question by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 4, Funny

    Riaa probably doesn't feel it is fair to have to obey all these different licensing restrictions. They probably want to use the results of the investigations as they choose since they paid good money for the results. Fortunately, they can only legally use investigators the way we can use songs and other copyrighted materials.

    Ah.. it is so nice when the worm turns.

    --
    She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
  4. Re:Is she going to sue MediaSentry? by A+nonymous+Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hence you should have no trouble calculating pi^(i*e) , right ?

    Ask Sir Mathsalot, not me. I am but a knave.

  5. A word to the wise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Never enter in litigation against a stubborn senior citizen with too much time on his or her hands.

  6. Re:Why try so hard to appeal to emotion? by hedwards · · Score: 2, Funny

    Mainly because it's a much more open and shut deal than a 20 something geek gets sued for downloading Celine Dion. Granted that should be illegal just on taste grounds, the later case is much more reasonable to bring to court than somebody that's barely computer literate and less likely to be able to fight back.

    The grandmothers, deceased, teens and such are much better examples of the unreasonable nature of the lawsuits. A teenager is going to have to cough up his college money to pay, if he even have that to pay. And filing a counter suit/fighting it is unlikely to be a realistic option for them.

  7. Re:Why try so hard to appeal to emotion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Taste issues notwithstanding, a "20 something geek downloading Celine Dion" case has prima-facie credibility problems to begin with.

  8. Re:Is she going to sue MediaSentry? by sconeu · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, after the flood, Noah tells all the animals to "be fruitful and multiply!"

    He wanders around, and the rabbits are screwing like rabbits, the minks are screwing like minks, and the elephants are... well, doing whatever elephants do.

    Then he comes and sees some snakes, and they're not doing the nasty. Noah asks them what's wrong, and they say "We're adders!"

    So Noah goes away and thinks. He then comes back, cuts down a couple of trees, and makes picnic tables from the logs. He tells the snakes to hang out there, and goes away.

    A few hours later, he comes back and sees that the snakes are getting it on, which just goes to prove...

    Even adders can multiply using log tables!

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  9. Re:Is she going to sue MediaSentry? by QuietObserver · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nope. e ** (pi * i) is -1. I'm not sure what pi ** (e * i) is.

    For the record, pi^(e*i) is approximately -0.99955 + 0.02989i

    For the further record, I found that using some complex math software I wrote in high school. :) (Why yes, I am a nerd... why do you ask?)

    And e^(pi*i) is actually -1 + -0.000000000001267i, which is also not quite -1.

  10. Re:Is she going to sue MediaSentry? by rubycodez · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...because IEEE finite precision floating specs supercede actual exact analytical mathematics in any slashdotter's reality

  11. Oh, the Joy! by Smordnys+s'regrepsA · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm not sure what is more topical...

    Effect an Effect or Eggs

    --
    Just -1, Troll talking to another.
  12. Re:Is she going to sue MediaSentry? by ShiNoKaze · · Score: 2, Funny

    You're missing the point. You see you're thinking logically and rationally, this is not conducive to you spending money. They pay for lots of press and hype and you buy hype. That's how it works. They tell you what to like, don't you understand? This thinking crap is getting in the way of their percentage return on investment numbers.

  13. Re:Is she going to sue MediaSentry? by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 3, Funny

    Actually, it would be $200,020.

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.