p2pnet news | RIAA News:- Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG and their RIAA rely heavily on MediaSentry, a parasitical US investigation firm which claims it’s able to deliver accurate information on file sharers, said by the multi-billion-dollar music industry to be “devastating” it.

MediaSentry results and abilities have been impugned a number of times, but that doesn’t stop the labels from continuing to use it to bamboozle technically ignorant jurists presiding over civil copyright infringement cases.

However, putting aside questions on whether or not it even has the skill or ability to produce reliable data for RIAA (and other) court cases, in precisely how many US states is it legally qualified to be snooping in the first place?

It’s been accused of operating without a license in Oregon, Florida, Texas, and New York. And it certainly isn’t legal in Massachusetts State where it’s been banned by the state police.

Some states don’t require it and, “AFAIK, Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, and South Dakota have no statewide requirement for private investigators to be licensed,” says compro01 (777531) in a Slashdot post.

But others —- most others? —- such as Michigan, certainly do and it’s beginning to look as though it isn’t properly licenced anywhere in the US.

‘Up to four years in prison’

A complaint was filed by a Recording Industry vs The People reader with the state’s Department of Labor and Economic Growth resulting in confirmation that MediaSentry has no official authorisation to carry out so-called ‘investigations’ there, p2pnet posted yesterday.

“We encourage parties to pursue complaints against unlicensed parties and the local prosecutor,” says the department.

“The prosecutor can prosecute these cases as felonies, with a maximum penalty of a $5,000 fine and/or up to four years in prison.”

In other words, MediaSentry’s unauthorized ‘investigations’ could mean it’s operating as an outlaw in many parts of America, and in some instances, its operators may be liable for fines and jail time.

In our post, “You can help by making enquiries to find out if it’s licensed to act as a Big 4 ‘investigator’ where you live —- even if you’re in Canada, Europe, or anywhere else the company is ‘working’,” we said, adding:

“If you come up with anything interesting, email us at p2pnet @ shaw dot ca, or Ray Beckerman at rbeckerman @ vanfeliu dot com.”

Results are trickling in.

Slashdot slashdotted the story and, “In Virginia, it appears that the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) is responsible for licensing private investigators,” posts by davide marney going on >>>

They provide a Private Security Services Business Directory Search form at http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/ps/directory/businessSearch.cfm [virginia.gov]. In my search, I could not find “Media Sentry” anywhere in their database.

According to the Private Investigators Association of Virginia ( http://www.piava.org/directory_info.shtml [piava.org] ), Consumers should always:

1. Ask for the company’s DCJS license number or request a copy of the DCJS license.
2. Verify the validity of a DCJS license for their own protection.
3. Be provided with a written agreement that includes scope and cost of services.
4. Report possible unlicensed activity to DCJS. Anonymous complaints are accepted.
5. Contact the DCJS to obtain complaint information @ http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/privatesecurity [virginia.gov]

However, I do not know if Media Sentry has operated in Virginia. If someone can show me that they have done so, I will be more than happy to issue a complaint.

“They may not be licensed in Arizona either,” says an RIvTP post, pointing out, “No variation of ‘Media Sentry’ or ‘SafeNet’ [its parent] gets any hit of an active license via Arizona Department of Public Safety web site. note: try “media” or “safe” for examples of active licenses. more AZ info here.”

“Add Connecticut to the list – see Public Act 04-192,” says another post on Beckerman’s site.

‘ … no record I can find …’

On p2pnet, according to the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office, MediaSentry isn’t licensed to investigate in that state, Cecil told us, and, “Looking at the Ohio Homeland Security webpage, the Private Investigation and Security Services Commission has an online searchable database for licensed private investigators,” said Bill, continuing:

“The page is http://www.dps.state.oh.us/ALRS/alrshomepage.aspx, while the PISSC page is : http://www.homelandsecurity.ohio.gov/pissc.htm. I plugged in MediaSentry, SafeNet, inserting spaces, dashes, etc, etc. and there is no record I can find. This doesn’t mean they haven’t secured licensure under another name or a misspelling or something of that sort, but it’s certainly a data point.”

“I came across your article about Media Sentry being illegal in some states so I decided to look to see if they were licensed in my state, Virginia,” Pat said >>>

The Virginia Department of Crimial Justice Services has a website to search for licensed private investigators here: http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/ps/directory/businessSearchAction.cfm

I viewed all the businesses and didn’t see safenet or mediasentry anywhere. As Bill from Ohio stated on your website, they may still be licensed, but they are not on the website.

Keep up the good fight!

Said Drew >>>

I found a business listing for MediaSentry in California. You should check it out here:

http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowAllList?QueryCorpNumber=C2749889

It is an interesting listing in that they were listed but current status is forfeited …

For convenience I copied the entry below:

Corporation
MEDIASENTRY INC.
Number: C2749889 Date Filed: 5/11/2005 Status: forfeited
Jurisdiction: GEORGIA
Address
4690 MILLENNIUM DRIVE
BELCAMP, MD 21017
Agent for Service of Process
JAKE FOX
2600 WEST OLIVE AVENUE
SUITE 500
BURBANK, CA 91505

“They may not be legally operating in Tennessee, either,” says Alex, wondering, “Do they have to be licensed as private investigators? If so, they are not listed with our Department of Commerce and Insurance, who has a complete list of licensed private investigators in our state. http://licsrch.state.tn.us/default.aspx”

Thanks, all

If you have a moment, no matter where you are (including Europe) have a look and see what you can dig up about MediaSentry licensing in your area.

Cheers! And all the best …

Jon Newton – p2pnet

[NOTE - p2pnet is running a special reader's survey. It only takes 20-30 seconds and it'd be a huge help if you'd fill it in. Please click here. Cheers! And thanks ... Jon]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 12:38 pm and is filed under RIAA News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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