Court Asked To Strike All MediaSentry Evidence

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In Capitol v. Thomas, the RIAA's Minnesota case scheduled for trial on June 15th, the defendant's new attorneys have filed a motion to suppress all of the evidence procured by MediaSentry, on the ground that it was obtained in violation of state and federal criminal statutes. The defendant's brief (PDF) accuses MediaSentry of violations of the Minnesota Private Detectives Act, the federal Pen Register and Trap and Trace Devices Act, and the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. The motion is scheduled to be argued on June 10th."

Comments

Evidence?

[Elgonn]

I wasn't aware that anything MediaSentry has brought into court was anywhere near something we'd call evidence. Vague screenshots, unverifyable logs?

Re:Where's the sting, oh thy sword?

[eldavojohn]

It's lovely to see that illegally obtained evidence is still illegitimate in the courts. Kinda gives you a warm feeling inside.

Agreed. Well from the letter of the law, it does sound like MediaSentry operated as an unlicensed Private Detective and regardless of whether she's guilty or not, I hope they uphold the law. It kind of saddens me that this may vary state to state, do other states have these sort of protections in place to stop a completely biased party (oh, like your ISP or MediaSentry) from gathering evidence against you for a trial?

I'm not a lawyer but it sounds like this lawyer finally did his homework and will probably stop the trial altogether due to lack of any evidence at all. I hope the RIAA learns its lesson and stops these frivolous lawsuits.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Where's the sting, oh thy sword?

[Nefarious Wheel]

I read the brief. Lovely read, too. Each line was percussive; a nail slammed by a hammer at the end of each sentence. The author could have been a flooring contractor. Media Sentry violated the Pen Register Act (WHAM). MediaSentry's activities violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (BLAM). MediaSentry collected its evidence against Jammie Thomas in violation of federal and state criminal law (switch to nail gun BLAM BLAM BLAM).

Large white letters on a black T-shirt does not make you the FBI. You have to play by the rules, or eventually you will get caught out. No matter how big you are, you will always be out-gunned by the courts.