RIAA MediaSentry: operating illegally in Michigan
p2pnet news view | RIAA News:- MediaSentry may soon have to halt its activities in Michigan.
The discredited RIAA ‘private eye’ has been, and still is, operating without a license, says Recording Industry vs The People.
MediaSentry has already been banned in Massachusetts and now, “We have recently learned that computer forensics technicians are required to be licensed under Michigan law, that the Department of Labor and Economic Growth has always taken that position, and that several months after the DLEG’s MediaSentry investigations began in Michigan, the State enacted a statute codifying the DLEG’s position,” says RIvTP.
One of its readers has been independently studying the MediaSentry investigations in Michigan, revealing the Michigan governor recently signed into legislation an expanded revision of the state’s professional investigator licensing act.
“The new definitions make it absolutely clear that the activities of Media Sentry fall under the definition of a private investigator and that, as such, it needs to secure a license to investigate residents of Michigan,” says the post, going on »»»
Specifically, the act specifically covers any business that contracts to make an investigation for the purpose of obtaining computer forensics to be used as evidence before a court. “Computer forensics” is defined by the new law as: “the collection, investigation, analysis, and scientific examination of data held on, or retrieved from, computers, computer networks, computer storage media, electronic devices, electronic storage media, or electronic networks, or any combination thereof.” Clearly this includes any and all of MediaSentry’s activities in the RIAA cases.
A copy of the new statute, effective May 28, 2008, is attached.
This new statutory definition should not be anything new to Media Sentry since it appears to simply recognize a long-standing position of the regulating agency, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth (”DLEG”), that computer forensic activities are considered investigative activities under the old statute.
In 2006, Kessler International, a large international firm engaged in forensic accounting and computer forensics, conducted a national survey in which is wrote to the various state investigative licensing boards to determine, among other things, whether or not computer forensic technicians would be considered private investigators under the state’s licensing laws. The response that the Kessler company received from the DLEG was unequivocal in the agency’s position:
“Michigan does require that a “computer forensics technician” be licensed as a private detective”. (See May 22, 2006 letter from DLEG to Kessler International)
A copy of the 2006 DLEG letter is attached.
Practitioners involved in litigation involving Media Sentry should make a formal inquiry of their state licensing boards to determine whether or not those boards consider computer forensics to be an activity that triggers a requirement to be licensed as a private investigator. To the extent that their answer is affirmative, like Michigan’s, it may help with the argument that Media Sentry’s ongoing illegal investigations should not be accommodated or considered by the Courts.
I have included a web site to the results of the various state Private Investigative boards to Kessler International’s survey.
http://www.thekesslernotebook.com/
http://www.investigation.com/surveymap/surveymap.html5 Responses to “RIAA MediaSentry: operating illegally in Michigan”
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Please no Spam, flaming (attacking others), trolling, and posting off-topic. Thanks.
September 4th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Any bets on the number of reasons the RIAA attorneys come up with for why MediaSentry does not need a license to investigate Michigan residents? My bet is 4.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Either:
1. media sentry jumps through hoops and is finally successful in convincing everyone that they are not incestigators, which means that all previous “expert” testimony they gave was flawed and non-admissable, giving all previous court cases a free pass to appeal
-OR-
2. media sentry realizes they cannot afford to undo all previous groundwork in every court case to date, and has to admit they *are* investigating without a proper license, then simply has the RIAA pay their fines in every state that chooses to force the issue
Win:Win for us no matter what!
September 4th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
“…they are not incestigators…”
What’s an “incestigator”? Sounds kinky…
September 5th, 2008 at 5:32 am
It would be helpful Jon to enquire whether any of the other states have a similar definition and if so is there any chance of someone doing something about this contempt of court and generl breach of the law, these criminals should be brought to account.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Just to refresh it: how people can sort out illegal files and downloads from fully legal? Can riaa share their method?