p2pnet - rss feed: Help! RIAA victim asks p2pnet
p2pnet news | RIAA News:- “I got lawsuit from RIAA! requesting donations pleasee thanks” — says chenwk in a comment post I’ve just put on the side.
I’m really sorry to learn someone else is being threatened by Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG heavies, in this case Holme Roberts & Owen, the legal firm hired by the Big 4’s RIAA to do their dirty work.
But it wouldn’t be a good idea for anyone to contribute anything aimed at helping you to pay the RIAA off.
Check out their letter to chenwk on the left, signed by one Donald. J. Kelso.
Meanwhile, here’s what chenbwk says on his web page:
hey everyone! As you might have figured it out, I received a lawsuit from the RIAA that requires a $3000 dollar settlement. This amount is just too much for me, considering I’m just a college student with no income.
Moreover, I’ve just been to the US for one and a half month and I’ve never heard of such a thing until I got the lawsuit.
I really am pissed but I’ve got no choice and I don’t want to look for trouble with these guys.
anyway, I’ve already set up a PayPal account and I hope that some of you who are willing to help can donate a few bucks to me.
I really do appreciate your help. I really need the donation, because I think $3000 is just ridiculously much. Thanks a lot guys!
Sorry, but the sad reality is: this wouldn’t be helping you, it’d be helping the RIAA and just as bad, would be encouraging you to incriminate yourself on behalf of the RIAA and its masters, Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG.
IMHO, you definitely don’t want to do that, but here’s something which may help. It’s from Ray Beckerman, the New York lawyer who’s representing a number of RIAA victims and who runs the Recording Industry vs The People blog.
THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, he states, going on:
HOWEVER, I DO ADVISE YOU TO GET LEGAL ADVICE, AND NOT TO TAKE YOUR ADVICE FROM THE RIAA, THE MPAA, YOUR SCHOOL, OR ANYONE ELSE WHO IS NOT YOUR LAWYER.
These are my suggestions to college students being targeted by the RIAA:
1. Join together with other students who are being targeted, pool your financial resources, and hire an attorney who is ready, willing, and able to (a) advise you of your rights and (b) fight the RIAA’s “John Doe” cases when they are brought.
2. Bring to your college or university’s attention my “Open Letter to Colleges and Universities“
3. Join or start campus charters of Digital Freedom and/or FreeCulture.
4. Remember that the RIAA does not presently have your identity, and that by calling them or visiting their web site you may be giving them your identity.
5. Read and learn about your rights. E.g., review Electronic Frontier Foundation page, RIAA v. the Students: An FAQ for “Pre-Lawsuit” Letter Targets
6. Organize.
7. Organize.
8. Organize.
Cheers, chenwk, and good luck.
And remember - you’re not alone. So don’t give in to the SOBs. Fight them.
Jon Newton - p2pnet
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September 25th, 2007 at 10:16 am
From the article on my blog (a link is available by clicking on my name):
“When they subpoena you, they have grabbed your dynamic IP address, contacted your ISP -for colleges this is usually their IT dept.- and then some days later the ISP finds whoever currently has that IP address and charges you with the action. For starters you should know that a dynamic IP address is just that, dynamic. It constantly has the ability to change. In fact, right here at Plymouth State University, it could change once every 24 hours! Or even more if you are moving around to different buildings or using the wireless. So someone else could have downloaded files, and now that you have their IP address you get charged! I know, doesn’t seem very legal does it? The RIAA knows this and yet they continue to sue as a SCARE TACTIC, not because they actually have a chance to win with a judge who knows the basics about internet protocols.
Okay, so that aside, you’ve still gotten the notice, so what do you do then? Well if you are running something like a tor server (http://tor.eff.org) then you probably got blamed for another person’s traffic. Tor works by routing your traffic through other people’s computer to mask your identity, likewise, other people’s traffic flows through your computer as well. So if they did something, it may look like it’s coming from your IP address, and you get charged even though you didn’t do anything! Again, not an outrageous possibility, but of course, if you can prove you had tor installed, then it becomes that much harder to prove you downloaded the information.
Okay here’s the next big one. Do you have an unsecured wireless router? If so, ANYBODY who was driving by or in the next building who is using your internet could have been the offender. Again, there would be no way to prove that you downloaded it, unless they got the court to give a warrant for your computer and found the offending files on it. Keep in mind, that in the court of law it’s innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around.”
Hopefully that’s not too much for a comment ;-).
Liam
September 25th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Pleas please please! Do not settle! Do not settle! do not settle and do not settle!
Contact the Electronic Frontier fondation. also contact RIAA VS the people crowd they will help you find a great lawer that will work probono until the RIAA lose the caser and is forced to pay your court cost!
Deny everything they can not prove a dam things against you!
Even if they where to win and it is almost impossible if you show up in court and specially if you have a decent attorney. Just bankrupt! It is not the end of the world and they will be screw-up! They even will have to foot the attorney fee! Not you!
The only thing to fear is fear itself said Roosvelt when about to take on the Japanese and German nazis.
Ask yourself what you can do for your country: simple, do not settle and that will cause these parasites who are damaging our society and discrediting our justice to fall.
Do not settle and your contry will be proud of you! After all these guys are more dangerous to our society than Ben Laden! I am not kiding! It will be less costly for you too! Few thousand dollar you can keep for yourself and your study
September 25th, 2007 at 10:27 am
Let’s grab all the parasites at Holme Roberts & Owen and let throw them to the lion pit! They have to understand that they will be consequences for their actions!
September 25th, 2007 at 10:45 am
If you actually downloaded and shared some of their crap:
Back up your persoinal file into a CD and DVD, Replace the Hard drive and re-install the OS fresh. The cost is less than $100 It is easy to do by yourself particularly on a laptop (Just follow exactly the instruction) You can probalbly get a biger hard dirive in the process (Yes!) Never admit you made a backup, never admit you still have the old HD if you do to anyone.
For the case you have to give the hard drive or the computer for examination just state to the court that your hard drive failed and you had to replace it and you throw away the old hard drive. It is perfectly plausible.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Dear Liam Jewell,
You are perfectly righ but you forgot one very obvious: Someone else was using the computer when the infringeeeement! occurs and you don’t know who he/she was!
September 25th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
go probono, DO NOT SETTLE, be patient, DO NOT FEAR the intimidation tactics!
September 25th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
I would have just put the letter back in the mail with a return to sender notice.
September 25th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
If you replace your hard drive, take some precautions.
Before taking out the old one, you may want to consider setting the date in you computer to on substantially before the date you received the letter. After doing so, replace the hard drive, re-install Windows, and do the updates. Gradually move the date forward to the current date as you install some of your old programs and reload your personal files (”music” if you have it, excluded).
This way the computer shows some use and file modification times between the date you specified and the current date should your computer be examined. Screw the RIAA and other criminal organizations. “Guilty” or not, if I were sued, I’d eat these b4st4rds for lunch! I love a good fight!
September 25th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
This looks like a scam site to me. Some opportunist wanker is riding on the back of the p2p lawsuit thing and trying to make a fast buck out of it by suckering people for donations.
It’s got the stench of FRAUD about it. DO NOT give any money!
September 25th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
If anyone should know the identity of this person and their case number, could they kindly forward the information to us at www.riaa.org. We will be delighted to discuss the matter with him or her.
September 26th, 2007 at 1:09 am
Please, you idiots at the RIAA have nothing when you go after innocent people who are fans of THE MUSIC and not the corprate product that you usually put out.
As several people can tell you[the person that is mentioned in the article], MediaSentry(or whatever they are called now) is not a licensed private detective firm in Florida, Oregon, Texas and several other states(CHECK YOUR LAWS!!!). Their “evidence” is not admissable in court, civil or otherwise, if you live in these “license” states. Fortunely for you, that is all they have other than the lies that they tell the judge to make themselves look good. Throw that out, and the RIAA has nothing if you don’t give them anything. Now granted, the RIAA will come after you like a lion, but just remember that they are scared little kitties that think that they have control over the populus when in reality we control them.
Ps. NOT A LAWYER!
September 26th, 2007 at 1:32 am
RIAA rep Says:
September 25th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
If anyone should know the identity of this person and their case number, could they kindly forward the information to us at www.riaa.org. We will be delighted to discuss the matter with him or her.
I doubt you even work for the RIAA, just some sick TROLL that wants to get attention by acting like your important! GO back to your JANITORIAL duties!
September 26th, 2007 at 3:14 am
“I doubt you even work for the RIAA, just some sick TROLL that wants to get attention by acting like your important! GO back to your JANITORIAL duties!”
You are a pathetic anonymous coward my friend. Why not reveal your identity like I have? Then we can discuss this little matter properly, can’t we?
September 26th, 2007 at 6:19 am
I am a bad person. I will go to Hell. I did the same thing on the torrent freak forums. Please forgive my insolence. *cough* hile hitler *cough*.
September 26th, 2007 at 6:20 am
you people leave my baby alone! or i will sue you too!
September 26th, 2007 at 10:26 am
RIAA rep Says:
September 26th, 2007 at 3:14 am
“I doubt you even work for the RIAA, just some sick TROLL that wants to get attention by acting like your important! GO back to your JANITORIAL duties!”
You are a pathetic anonymous coward my friend. Why not reveal your identity like I have? Then we can discuss this little matter properly, can’t we?
And YOU are an absolute IDIOT!
Do you really think anyone believes your story about you working for the RIAA?
I can call myself NAPOLEON of France on the internet…..but that does not mean I am him or a damn thing about my real identity!
Again…. go back to waxing floors…. TROLL!
September 26th, 2007 at 11:16 am
“If you replace your hard drive, take some precautions”
Yes this is a better strategy. It is more work but it is more powerful.
September 26th, 2007 at 11:22 am
“Why not reveal your identity like I have”
Well! You did not!
Give us your name phoine number and address then you will have reveal your identity.
But I am quite sure that you are too coward to do it.
Bullies are all coward because they all run away when I go after them.
September 26th, 2007 at 11:25 am
I am going to take over the RIAA and kick your butt! Parasite!
September 26th, 2007 at 11:32 am
How to find out if RIAA rep is an RIAA Rep?
Simple. We go to the RIAA and we shoot evry one, If the posting stop, oups! sorry! He was an RIAA rep!
If not forget about him he is not.
Is it a good plan? Do you like my plan RIAA Rep?
September 26th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Should I get a similar letter from the RIAA this would be my reply, certified, letter.
Dear RIAA crooks:
First, you should be ashamed of hiding behind RIAA to send a lawsuit threat without a clear identification as to it is that is threatening to sue me. Real sneaky of you.
Asuming that you, whoever you are, have proof that you have suffered damages because I copied your lousy songs, the damges would then be your profits of whatever CDs I would have purchased during the past three years. Assuming that my very limited CD budget would have been spent only on your label and because I copied I did not buy those CD, then the damages you may have suffered in a worst case scenario is at most 50 dollars (5 dollar profit for 10 cds). Because Iam a working person, who work to maintain a family, and because most CDs sold by RIAA members really suck, 10 CDs I have ever purchase in any three year period.
Iam therfore sending you a 50 dollar check as a settlement offer. Should you not accept this offer, that would be proof that you do not wish to mitigate your real worst case damages. Anyone who refuses to mitigate damages has no right to collect damages at court. That is the law. The Judge should throw out the case. I will make sure my lawyer makes this argument.
Of cours, your lawyers are more interested in the many hours that they hope will dedicate to a lawsuit and wuill advise you not to accept my generous offer. Please don’t let them fool you.
Sincerley
A terrified former customer
September 27th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Gee….I see RIAA rep did not answer my last message to him….I guess he is too busy waxing floors!
That is what happens when you are a janitor and dream about being an RIAA rep….though WHY he would want to be affilated by an organization as reprehensable as the RIAA is anyone’s guess.
Mabye the poor bastard is just sick in the head? Who knows?