Slashdot Mirror
RIAA Will Finally Face the Music In Court
Falstaff writes "Exonerated RIAA defendant Tanya Andersen is expected to refile her malicious prosecution lawsuit against the RIAA today. The refiling will mark a significant watershed in the RIAA's fight against P2P users because for the first time, the group's tactics, secret agreements, and fee splitting with MediaSentry are likely to come to light, thanks to discovery. Andersen's attorney says he'll be 'digging into agreements between the RIAA, RIAA member companies, MediaSentry, and the Settlement Support Sentry. Part of that will involve looking at compensation, like how much MediaSentry gets from each settlement. "I'd love to know what kind of bounty MediaSentry got paid to supply erroneous identities to the RIAA," Lybeck says.' The judge has barred further motions to dismiss the complaint, which means the RIAA will have to face the music. 'Unlike the thousands of lawsuits filed so far, the RIAA does not have the luxury of walking away from this case if there's a real chance of embarrassing information being released. "Once discovery happens in the cases the RIAA brings, they run," Lybeck says. "This is our case now, and they can't run."'"
fuck you fish tits
...sailing the sausage seas!
with my life.
The judge has barred further motions for dismissal, so unless the RIAA decides to settle--a move Lybeck believes is in the group's best interest--the case will proceed through discovery and to trial.
Hopefully she won't settle for the carrot that the RIAA would probably dangle in front of her. She has the opportunity to bring all these lawsuits to a screeching halt.
Speedy thing goes in; speedy thing comes out.
I fully expect the RIAA to do everything in it's power to hide any so called "embarrassing" information, probably successfully so. I hate to be such a pessimist but the fact of the matter is multi-million dollar corporations will always have the upper hand in this sort of thing. I got my fingers crossed though, hopefully someone will finally slay the dragon.
I see...
1. Get contract to find copyright violators.
2. The "???" is: Just grab folks that may look guilty.
3. Profit!
I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
Judge Says: Overrated.
Is it wrong that I'm excited about this?
this post is now diamonds!
Like most of the readers here, I will watch this case closely (enough to actually RTFAs).
My sincere hope in this is that MediaSentry and the RIAA in general get their asses handed to them. I am all for dragging the top 4 levels of each guilty corporation into the street and publically beating them for their wrong-doings.
Then releasing the video of the beatings on youtube.
How amazed would you be to suddenly find that you just forgot what I wrote and you needed to reread my post.... again.
Now, it's time for 'the rest of the story'....
This will be more than interesting. I hope that they have all the legal advice and tech advice necessary to pull the fingernails off of the **AA legal team, one at a time, no pain killers.
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
Mostly all y'alls do steal music, so this case has got nothing to do with you.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
I'd love to see the RIAA face their own music. :)
That alone should be suitable punishment for the stuff that they've tried to inflict on the general public.
The judge has barred further motions to dismiss the complaint, which means the RIAA will have to face the music.
Since the RIAA already owns the music, I guess this won't really frighten them much.
IANAL, but it sounds like the RIAA is going to want to settle and prevent discovery from happening since they don't want all the sordid details of their dealings brought to light.
But that makes me wonder . . . if they do in fact settle, won't this just embolden all the other lawsuit recipients to file against the RIAA too? They can settle malicious lawsuits to keep them from going to trial to their heartss content (*snicker* we know they don't have hearts), but ultimately they're going to have to either WIN a malicious prosecution suit or stop engaging in malicious suits alltogether, no?
For example, many Open Source installers are available via BitTorrent. Their use of p2p is crucial to their success, because it reduces distribution costs.
P2P is also crucial to the success of struggling musicians who offer their music online for free, as a way to promote themselves. Direct HTTP downloads can lead to bankrupcy if their songs become sudden hits. I myself offer Bit Torrent downloads of my piano compositions.
(While I presently work as a software engineer, I'm studying piano with the aim of changing careers into music. You could really help me out if you shared my music over the Internet.)
In your letters to your legislators, please emphasize the legal uses of P2p.
Request your free CD of my piano music.
What is this! What is going on here? Please delete your swearing and curse words immediately. I don't care if you do it, or you have to get one of the moderators to do it for you.
I'm going to check back at 1700GMT on the dot, and if this message is still here and has not been cleaned up, I'm going to call the police.
For ages human story, communication -- the very thread of humanities' tale -- has been handed down via song. I learned in linguistics that of the few things which both separate us from other species and that we have in common is song: in common because both humans and other animals use it and separate as we add language and "tale". Odd how, in modernity, something such as music has come to this.
I suppose it is natural. If, for some reason, all humans perished today and whales evolved to become the dominant species and have song and tale and language. If they then go on to develope technology. Will they one day sue?
"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
...till the fat lady sings (provided her song has been paid for)
The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.
In light of resistance from the courts, the RIAA will probably shift its resources toward the legislative branch.
It may be fun to win one small battle, but the RIAA companies still control media distribution.
From the RIAA's perspective, this has been a wildly successful strategy because it successfully struck fear into the hearts and minds of consumers.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
It is common for judges to promote settlement in cases where the victor seems obvious in order to reduce the load on the court system.
In this particular case, pursuing it to the full extent should actually REDUCE the burden on the court system by severely restricting the RIAA's ability to file new suits.
The only way I could see a settlement working in the long run is if it's equivalent to an unconditional surrender with all sorts of guilt admissions. I just can't picture the RIAA agreeing to that, and the plaintiffs should not settle for less.
THIS is the opportunity. Do not let it slip through your fingers.
PLEASE tell me it's William Hung!
I'm waiting for a "-1 somepeoplejustshouldn'tgetmodprivileges" meta-moderation.
why is google advertising portable restrooms on slashdot?
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Start encouraging your favorite artist to go a route of sales & distribution and royality collection outside of the RIAA.
Though there may be contracts holding them to the RIAA directly or indirectly, such contract will either become expired or after this case, be challenge-able.
The RIAA Will Finally Face What They Like to Call Music in Court
There, fixed that for you.
Jig's up, asshats. Payment in full upon the sound of the gavel on wood.
Or on your head, it'll sound the same due to the fact that it's made of the same stuff as the bench is. XD
First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
All we-all don't steal^H^H^H^H^Hmake unauthorized copies of music, nohow, podner. And whether we-all do or not, the RIAA's behavior is downright ornery. They're a mad dog, boy, and need to be put down.
If she doesn't get bought, her attorney will be. If he isn't, the bar will have formal complaints lodged against him and barristers will be bought out and he will lose his license to practice. The judge will be bought. We are talking about people who have no problem spending 30,000$ on a sandwich. I don't think buying out everyone they need to is going to be difficult. I really am praying to god that it doesn't happen, but I'm so damn jaded about this stuff at this point.
Will this be the overdue butt pounding for the RIAA and Media Sentry for all their dastardly deeds against poor innocent folks? Will they get their just desserts? Will they bend over and smile while taking it like the hoes that they are? Will their victims get satisfaction from their misfortune? What is the price of a good shredder? How much will it cost to eliminate all data pertaining to Media Sentry's activities and cost/share analysis between the RIAA and Media Sentry? How about Bank deposits for Media Sentry? Will the RIAA and Media Sentry be forced to return all of their ill-gotten gains? Will others follow in the aftermath of this case or will it set a precedent for all other like minded Judges to follow? God so many questions.
But from what we have seen from this woman, well... I think it's pretty obvious that she is very pissed and she will not settle for anything less than victory in this.
If I were in this position, I would be recording every phone call and saving every e-mail. I hope they're dumb enough to try to threaten or bribe her, because she seems like the kind of person who is going to make that kind of information public and make the RIAA look much worse than they already do.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
Dunno if anyone's mentioned this before, but the RIAA tactics seem startlingly similar to the CIA/FBI tactics: they both assert that the ends justify the means, so if they have to trample on a few innocents to bring the terrorists -- I mean IP violators -- to justice, well then that should be permitted because this is so fundamentally important to the survival of our society.
I wonder if the CIA/FBI/Exec branch will intervene on their behalf to support their reasoning.
http://www.betanews.com/article/Defendant_in_RIAA_suit_files_amended_complaint/1205509900
This will be great news as long as there is no settlement. Even if a settlement is offered the case should go ahead and have all of these companies policies made public. I don't know if this is possible though(I'm not a lawyer); but if it was me, I wouldn't settle.
Heh...
You keep using that word, I don't think it means what YOU think it means...
Considering that CDBaby, PayPlay, and a host of others provide me with the media I really care about- and they're NOT RIAA or MPAA affiliated...
They control the Pop Culture media distribution. There's a reason why they're "losing" money- and it has NOTHING to do with them
being ripped off by infringers. It's because their stuff's mostly crap these days and there's other performers making a decent living
of things WITHOUT them.
Opt out of their lose-lose game they've been playing for decades now. The more that do, the merrier, as far as I'm concerned.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Don't count all your chickens before they're hatched. I suspect that even if you can successfully resist temptation that will be placed in front of you to "settle", they have enough tricks of their sleeves. I for one will acknowledge that people can be bought... And; this includes people in power and the courts. Who's to say that they don't somehow manage to wrangle a venue change and get this changed to another jurisdiction and court somewhere that will be favorable to them.
They still have a lot of money and I would not put it past them to make sure their little cartel stays in good order. They have more average Americans, and even most artists to fleece!
All content in this message is copyright (c) 2008. All rights reserved. RIAA is prohibited here.
a self-mocking bird.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Ok, so the RIAA served her. Now, she served them back. So, by definition, it is now 'ON!'
Am I the only one surprised that someone beat NewYorkCountryLawyer to a RIAA story?
I compose by improvising, but found that several years of formal lessons didn't help me with improvising; if anything, I have a harder time with it than before I took lessons.
But I am working to get it back, and plan to record a new album around mid-Summer. It will be CC-licensed too.
Request your free CD of my piano music.
The RIAA is in a fair position. Their strategy will be to stretch things out as long as possible. Take a look a Exxon. Even if they lose, they'll appeal and appeal and roadblock and so on. It could take years to reach a conclusion. Does this woman have what it takes to go 15 rounds? If at any point the RIAA gets tired, they will try and settle out of court. Which they could do right away, in order to avoid airing dirty laundry. Even if they lose, they don't really get hurt.
You got 'Wry and Subtle' in my 'Obvious and Leaden'!
A sure thing vs a possibility. If she takes a settlement, the money is gaurenteed. If she refuses, well the trial could go either way. It is easy to talk about principles and such, but much harder to stick to them when someone is offering you a ton of money.
I hope she sues the crap out of them, and if this gets into a class action it's going to be interesting who picks up the bill at the RIAA side.. Next question: are the member record companies in for some collusion charges? It's not like it was invisible what was happening here..
Victory over the RIAA and their agent/thugs means nothing.
RIAA is a front organization. It is just a way the record companies to use to interface with the legal attack dogs. They have no real assets to give up. They pass all their ill gotten gains back to their masters.
If there is a serious legal setback, then RIAA just dissolves, and comes back tomorrow under another name. The legal pit bulls, and the record companies who control all this carnage will remain untouched. To really make it stop, you need to have the courts pierce the 'corporate veil' to make the operators responsible.
The whole mess only stops when the individual record companies who are sponsoring this blatant attack on their own customers are financially penalized.
Sending a few lawyers and CEO's to prison would also help. But, that isn't going to happen.
Everybody knows 3 people with my name.
If they offered her a seriously large sum in the millions, then she would be quite right to accept it.
Leaving aside the larger issue, she's a person who likely would never make that amount of money on her own. Therefore being offered that amount and deciding to accept would be quite defensible.
I don't know that it would be quite that large mind. It all depends what she would consider to be good.
Any such settlement might not do the wider cause much good, but nor would it hurt it. The most the RIAA could do is turn an embarrassing defeat into a well publicised failure. In the long term that won't help them.
Besides, a veto proof majority would have required the cooperation of a good number of Democrats in congress.
IIRC, this is also a RICO suit, so regardless of which corporation did what, they acted as co-conspirators and are all liable for each other's actions. The suit is claiming an ongoing criminal conspiracy, not just one or two isolated mistakes.