RIAA thumbs its nose at judge Real
p2pnet news view | RIAA News:- Lawyers hired by Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG’s RIAA will stoop to any level in their relentless attacks on people chosen to feature in their bizarre sue ‘em all marketing campaign.
Now, the RIAA was granted ex parte discovery in Motown Record Co. v Doe, notes Recording Industry vs The People, “but is using information obtained for purposes of extracting monetary settlements”.
“Because Plaintiffs [ie, the Big 4] routinely obtain ex parte discovery in their John Doe infringement suits, as they themselves have pointed out, their factual assertions supporting their good cause argument are never challenged by an adverse party and their investigative methods remain free of scrutiny.”
So said Oregon state attorney general Hardy Myers who at the time also noted the RIAA might have been illegally spying on University of Oregon students and ferreting out data they’re not entitled to.
“They often settle their cases quickly before defendants obtain legal representation and begin to conduct discovery,” he said.
In this latest travesty, Motown Records, owned by Universal Music, is demanding $4,000 and up from USC undergraduates, “in exchange for not being named in a copyright infringement lawsuit currently pending in federal court in Los Angeles,” says LAist.
Judge Manuel L. Real’s October 7, 2008 order states USC student information is, “to be used for the sole purpose of obtaining injunctive relief,” says the story.
But what’s a judge’s order to the RIAA, headed up by Mitch Bainwol with Cary Sherman as his #2?
“As of last week, representatives of the record companies were telephoning and writing USC students to propose settlements,” says the story.
Recording Industry vs The People – RIAA granted ex parte discovery for injunctive relief only, but is using information obtained for purposes of extracting monetary settlements, December 15, 2008
Hardy Myers – RIAA may be spying on students: Oregon AG, November 29, 2007
LAist – Record Companies Threaten To Sue USC Undergraduates, December 15, 2008
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December 16th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
It would be nice if this breach of the courts order was to become a signal to other judges to raise the bar in respect of the fraudulant nature of the recording industries claims and proposed remedies, on the other hand as the information was used illegally the students have a case again the recording industry for willfully conspiring to mislead the court for the purposes of fraud.
December 17th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Time for all those who have now been pressured into setteling their cases to gather up and slap RIAA with a class action lawsuif for the misuse of personal information with no evidence. I’d say sue them for say the last 10 years of revenue… win that and it all stops.
December 17th, 2008 at 11:44 am
The one thing about these suits is that they ignore they have attacked the wrong person. Who was behind that keyboard when the download happened or how do we know that because someone bought a smart card programmer they stole directv programming? When the wrong person is attacked, the the actual suit filed in the court becomes a fraudulent lawsuit especially when the RIAA or Directv knows the suit is a false court complainant. This is a crime to knowingly file a suit you know to be false. The target of the suit then becomes a crime victim. But when the crime victim asks for victim assistance from the AG’s office, they are ignored. It then becomes important that the AG’s office as well as the federal victim witness program get the message that “all” victims of crime need protection. I received such a letter, responded that they were wrong. They sued anyway knowing full well they had made a mistake and sued anyway. Then a settlement requires that you not ask that criminal charges be made or that you will not be a witness against them in any criminal proceeding. With that your rights of a crime victim are gone which is also illegal and conceals the fraud. For those who were attacked and were truly innocent, the next time Justice asks you to be a witness or be a juror, treat justice as they have treated you as a victim of crime. Ignore them as a juror and witness and see just how they like it. It is the only way that Justice will protect the victim’s of suits which were fraudulent