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MIT Student Plans to Take on RIAA

Posted by Zonk on from the go-fightin'-nerds dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "MIT's online newspaper, The Tech, reports that a student named as a John Doe by the RIAA is planning to fight back against their questionable legal tactics. The anonymous student told The Tech that he is 'the victim of a fishing expedition by the RIAA,' and is 'disappointed that MIT isn't going to step up ... Other schools like Boston University and the University of Oregon have resisted RIAA subpoenas of student records more actively than MIT has, he said'. Maybe his attorneys will be able to get some assistance from some of the Harvard Law School students in Professor Nesson's 'Evidence' class, who have been assigned — as part of their coursework — the drafting of a motion to quash an RIAA subpoena."

6 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Mitch Hedberg taught me everything I need to know by Smordnys+s'regrepsA · · Score: 5, Funny
    I wasn't aware of a legal requirement for showing where you bought... well, just about anything short of firearms.


    ...and doughnuts!

    "I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughtnut... I don't need a receipt for the doughnut. I give you money and you give me the doughnut, end of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario that I would have to prove that I bought a doughnut. To some skeptical friend, 'Don't even act like I didn't get that doughnut, I've got the documentation right here... It's in my file at home. ...Under "D".'"
    --
    Just -1, Troll talking to another.
  2. Sue MIT by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sue MIT for not protecting your student records properly. You can use that settlement money to pay off the RIAA.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  3. Be Smart About This by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 3, Funny
    It will be easier for the student to win this case if he was smart enough not to use his own name, nickname, myspace page name, or personal e-mail address name as his [name]@kazaa.com file sharing nick.

    Instead, use the name of the jock down the hall that you hate anyway.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  4. John Doe by MrCopilot · · Score: 4, Funny

    I thought that dude was dead.

    --
    OSGGFG - Open Source Gamers Guide to Free Games
  5. Re:He'd best make sure he saved his receipts by Compholio · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, 'technically' they can attach a name to IP because you've registered your mac address, but it's entirely possible to spoof that.
    We want the person associated with DE:AD:CA:FE:BA:BE who was sharing files at 3:03 AM on March the 3rd, 2003!
  6. Re:is this guy totally innocent? by kaizokuace · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its like this: The RIAA is a company that sells spinner hubcaps which are totally gay. They drive by your house and see that you have rims with spinners so they decide you robbed them, even though your spinners are cold hard ali 20's probably with LEDs on them too. So they pull out their mac-10's and drop like 5 magazines on your car, cuz they are gangstas literally.

    --
    Balderdash!