11 angry people against the RIAA
p2pnet news view | RIAA News:- You know how the RIAA has supposedly seen the light and isn’t suing Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG customers on behalf of Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG any more?
That’s just Big 4 PR BS for media consumption.
In fact, the RIAA is still sneaking around in the dark.
Far from finally treating the people who keep its masters in business with respect and decency, the corporate music extortion unit is still actively suing them, continuing to call them criminals and thieves.
“You may recall that the RIAA recently dropped its ‘John Doe’ case against Rhode Island College students, where the ISP was located in Austin, Texas, in Arista Records v. Does 1-22, without getting its ‘ex parte discovery order’?” – asks Recording Industry vs The People’s Ray Beckerman, going on:
“We have learned of it dropping another ‘John Doe’ case, this one in Greensboro, North Carolina, again without getting its ‘ex parte discovery order’, BMG Music v. Does 1-14.
“Four of the defendants were represented by Steve Robertson and his firm, Robertson, Medlin & Blocker, of Greensboro, North Carolina, the same lawyers representing a group of NC State students in Raleigh, NC, in John Doe cases and in regulatory proceedings against MediaSentry.”
That might look like a mini-victory, but there’s more to it.
The four were among 15 RIAA victims, all of them represented by Steve Robertson from the North Carolina law firm mentioned in Beckerman’s post.
Robertson did his best to save his clients from having to suffer further RIAA legal harassment, offering $15,000 to dismiss all 15 cases.
Four were Doe defendants in a middle district NC case sent to Virginia for hearing on a subpoena because the ISP was in Virginia, Robertson told p2pnet, going on the industry dismissed those cases.
So, “I sent an amended offer of $11,000 to end cases against 11 defendants,” Robertson told me, going on »»»
This week the industry’s lawyers at HRO rejected the offer, and did not counteroffer. I’ve filed answer, defenses, counterclaims, and third-party complaints on behalf of my clients in two cases.
I’ve also filed a petition with the NC Office of Administrative Hearings to reverse the ludicrous finding of the NC Private Protective Services Board hat they do not have jurisdiction over Media Sentry concerning our complaint that MS spys on NC citizens by invading their hard drives without permission or even a license to investigate as required by NC law.
MediaSentry? The company recently fired by the RIAA?
But that’s not all.
With the upcoming Joel Tenenbaum TV drama starkly in the background, the RIAA is facing another unwonted public appearance.
But this time, it won’t be one student and his lawyers in the hallowed precincts of a US court of law.
It’ll be 11 angry people telling their story in public.
Robertson says he’s scheduling a press conference to, “gather my clients together to put faces behind their continued battle against the bully”.
But the battle is now over, bar the shouting.
These are the final skirmishes.
Definitely stay tuned.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
January , 2009
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