RIAA investigation panelists named

We revealed exclusively yesterday that New York student Lorraine Sullivan will give evidence at senator Norm Coleman's investigation into the RIAA's subpoena war slated for September 30.

But don't get too excited. The three panels look as if they were put together by Coleman's pet beagle.

Sullivan, for instance, will do more than merely tell the tale of her experiences. Since she'll be the only one of the 261 people victimised by the RIAA to appear she will, in effect, represent them all.

"It's daunting," she told us. "I didn't know I was going to be the only one. But I've asked if I can stay for the whole hearing - I really want to hear what everyone has to say."

Will she have questions for people such as the Mitch Bainwol, the seldom-seen RIAA ceo? "If I can," she says. "But people like that, I don't know if they'll be around after they've given their evidence."

We wondered if Sullivan could shed a little light on why the sole member of Panel 3 is one Jonathan D. Moreno, an MD and director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics, University of Virginia.

An MD in charge of biomedical ethics? Sullivan has never heard of him and neither Coleman nor his beagle explain what he's doing at the hearing, which will be before US Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

And representing the entire spectrum of p2p service providers and networks on Panel 2 will be Sharman Networks and its business partner Altnet which is, of course, a content marketing and promo firm with a heavy interest in Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies.

The full list of panelists is:

Panel 1
Mitch Bainwol, RIAA chairman and ceo
Jack Valenti, MPAA president and ceo
Recording Artist (no name)
Mike Negra, president, Mikes Video

Panel 2
Alan Morris, executive director, Sharman Networks
Derek Broes, executive vp, Alnet
Representative of Online Business Selling Records (no name)
Lorraine Sullivan, "Recipient of RIAA Subpoena and Target of RIAA Lawsuit"
Pro-File Trading Recording Artist (no name)

Panel 3
Jonathan D. Moreno, MD, Director, Center for Biomedical Ethics , University of Virginia

Note: this story was updated at 7:45 amp PT