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MediaSentry & RIAA Expert Under Attack

Posted by kdawson on from the my-expert's-smarter-than-your-expert dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Jammie Thomas, the defendant in Duluth, Minnesota, RIAA case Capitol Records v. Thomas, has served her expert witness's report. The 30-page document (PDF), prepared by Prof. Yongdae Kim of the Computer Science Department of the University of Minnesota, attacks the reports and testimony of Prof. Doug Jacobson, the RIAA's expert, and the work of the RIAA's investigator, Safenet (formerly known as MediaSentry). Among other things, Dr. Kim termed MediaSentry's methods 'highly suspect,' debunked Dr. Jacobson's 'the internet is like a post office' analogy, explained in detail how FastTrack works, explored a sampling of the types of attacks to which the defendant's computer may have been subjected, accused Jacobson of making 'numerous misstatements,' and concluded that 'there is not one but numerous possible explanations for the evidence presented during this trial. Throughout the report I demonstrate possibilities not considered by the plaintiff's expert witness in his evaluation of the evidence...' Additionally, he concluded, 'MediaSentry has a strong record of mistakes when claiming that particular IP addresses were the origins of copyright infringement. Their lack of transparency, lack of external review, and evidence of inadequate error checking procedures [put] into question the authenticity and validity of the log files and screenshots they produced.'"

5 of 273 comments (clear)

  1. fp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    eat out my asshole!

  2. Why are they attacking him? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Artists deserve to make money on their work. Why do people hate the RIAA? The protect artsts from people illegally stealing music off the internet.

    And yes, downloading music without paying for it is STEALING.

    So fuck you retards that want somthing for nothing.

    You Poor fuckers need to get out of your parents basement and get a job you freeloading fucktaints.

    1. Re:Why are they attacking him? by sbeckstead · · Score: 0, Troll

      The parent should be modded off topic as is this post

      Ok here is where I have an argument. The conceptual difference between "copyright infringement" and "stealing" is null. So why the obfuscation and insistence that what you are doing is not stealing. Illegal enrichment is illegal enrichment.

      Now I'm bypassing the legal bullshit that fair use is involved because I will stipulate to fair use. But every other form of copying without permission is still stealing or it's semantic equivalent.

      Perhaps the scarcity equals value has been taken too far with copyrights but that is what the music industry and the artists count on to get paid.

      --
      Why bother
  3. Re:RIAA will fall soon. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    The ones so "massive" that the RIAA is about to be disbanded? No, they are not, in fact, happening. And the fact that you think they make your case proves that you are either the OP or someone even more fantastically stupid than the OP.

  4. Re: shitstain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Man, it's a good thing the industry is dying. Have you been laid off yet? Soon you'll have to prostitute your anus for a meal! So sad...