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RIAA Sues Homeless Man

Posted by kdawson on from the just-leave-the-summons-on-the-heating-grate dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In a Manhattan case, Warner v. Berry, the RIAA sued a man who lives in a homeless shelter, leaving a copy of the summons and complaint not at the homeless shelter, but at an apartment the man had occupied in better times, and had long since vacated. The RIAA's lawyers were threatened with sanctions by the Magistrate Judge in the case, for making misleading representations to the Court which the Magistrate felt were intentional. The District Judge, however, disagreed with imposing sanctions, giving the RIAA's lawyers 'as officers of the Court the benefit of the doubt,' and instead concluded — in his 6-page opinion (PDF) — that the RIAA's lawyers were just being 'sloppy' and had not made the misstatements for an improper purpose.'"

10 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. Re:And again... by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Informative

    *** WARNING ***

    Link in parent is malicious. Do not click.

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    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

  2. Re:I don't know... by ari_j · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is in federal court. Federal judges are appointed for life, although they can be impeached if it gets bad enough. The magistrate judge who got it right in the first place is not appointed, though, to my knowledge.

  3. Re:Explanations? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    a flash exploit

  4. Re:Filesharing at the time of not being homeless? by Loconut1389 · · Score: 2, Informative

    i have now skimmed the 6 page summary too- all I gleaned was the guy supposedly used Kazaa over AOL about a year before the court case. So, how long ago was the guy homeless?

  5. Re:Trawling by NewYorkCountryLawyer · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's just like when fishing fleets trawl the bottom of the ocean trying to catch scallops or mussels ... they end up dragging all kinds of other species into the boat. RIAA is looking for file-sharers, and if they dredge up the occasional homeless man, or dead person, or bubble-boy ... no biggie ... just move on. Interesting you should say that, because the RIAA has itself used the term "fishing with a net". Actual quote from RIAA spokesman:

    "When you go fishing with a net, you sometimes are going to catch a few dolphin." Dennis Roddy, "The Song Remains the Same", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 14, 2003, quoted in amicus curiae brief (pdf) of American Civil Liberties Union, Public Citizen, American Association of Law Libraries, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and ACLU Foundation of Oklahoma, submitted in Capitol v. Foster, 2007 WL 1028532 (W.D. Oklahoma 2007), brief at page 8.
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    Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful
  6. Re:Wrong, wrong, wrong! by Uebergeek · · Score: 5, Informative
    Three things counterbalance against a lawyer being 'sloppy':

    (1) Malpractice: if a lawyer is 'sloppy' in his representation of a client, the client can sue the lawyer ofr malpractice, as well as make a complaint to the applicable state bar association. This can result in the lawyer paying large amounts of money to the client, reprimands being placed in the lawyer's file from the state bar, and even the lawyer having his license to practice law revoked.

    (2) FRCP Rule 11 Sanctions Unbeknownst to many oustide the legal profession, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (and most state rules) allow for the court to impose sanctions/award costs for frivolous filings. Extreme sloppiness sometimes falls into this category.

    (3) Court's discretion In its own discretion, the Court can sanction an attorney for sloppiness or other misconduct that wastes the court's time. This can result in a case being dismissed with prejudice (meaning the attorney cannot refile the case, and will likely get pegged by the client for malpractice).

  7. Re:Trawling by NewYorkCountryLawyer · · Score: 3, Informative

    these RIAA people should also get sanctions for doing what they do It will happen. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes the next time Judge Baer catches them in a lie.
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    Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful
  8. Re:Because his boss says not too by Stevecrox · · Score: 3, Informative

    The BBC has and hasn't picked up on the story, on TV most of the RIAA, BPI, etc... actions don't get a mention, its not that they don't care its just the media, health, politics and business tend to make up the evening and morning news. On the BBC website in the technology section a guy called Bill Thompson http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7324556.stm does seem to share many of the views Slashdot has. The technology section also has a strong net neutrality and right to privacy viewpoint (phorm stories always concentrate on the negitive, RIAA and BPI mention lawsuits as back reference.)

    The Problem is until these sorts of things become significantly political they never get air time. Even the current battle between the iPlayer and ISP's hasn't made the current news.

  9. Re:Explanations? by g0bshiTe · · Score: 5, Informative

    Um a NULL pointer via flash.
    http://www.matasano.com/log/1032/this-new-vulnerability-dowds-inhuman-flash-exploit/

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    I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
  10. Re:WTF!?!?!? by NewYorkCountryLawyer · · Score: 3, Informative

    The case was dismissed without prejudice... which means they can sue the poor guy again.

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    Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful