p2pnet to CNet’s Richard Koman: thanks, m8
p2pnet news view RIAA | P2P:- “I want to thank Zack Whittaker over at CNet News’ iGeneration blog for picking up, and commenting on, the story about the appalling instance of an RIAA victim who threatened to kill herself,” I posted last month.
“I was shocked, horrified and appalled at the news that a student from Chicago threatened suicide over the forceful, bullying tactics of major media corporations,” he said, and my post was in response to his.
The story was slugged, p2pnet to Zack Whittaker: thanks, m8.
And now I’m really glad to be able to post a new header for another CNet News writer who’s telling a wider audience than p2pnet’s that Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG’s RIAA has gone too far — way too far.
This time it’s, p2pnet to Richard Koman: thanks, m8.
In ZDNet Government, Richard writes »»»
Brittany Kruger may be a scared young lady but she has also proven to be a brave advocate for victims, like herself, of RIAA Mafia shake-downs, arm-twisting and assorted rough stuff. According to Ray Beckerman Brittany and her father’s willingness to expose the fact that MediaSentry violated Michigan law by not having an investigator’s license has had amazing ramifications:
Her complaint prompted an investigation by Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Growth which encouraged other college students, and even colleges, in Michigan to follow suit, probably led to reform of Michigan’s licensing statute, caught MediaSentry up in a pack of lies, and which may yet lead to criminal prosecution, but which was not sufficient to cause MediaSentry to stop its illegal practice.
But it has exposed Brittary to full vengeance of RIAA lawyers and PR flacks, whose lies P2Pnet catalogues in this piece. Brittany has written an open letter detailing her ordeal and laying bare in plain terms the hyporcisy and immorality of RIAA’s litigation tactics. P2Pnet asks sites to republish the letter and I’m happy to oblige …
Thanks, Richard.
Said Zack in the CNet post I mentioned earlier:
“In both my honest, professional opinion, as both a journalist and a student, these vicious, thoughtless, bullying tactics need to stop. Yes I’m sure to some extent this post may not make sense, and you’re probably looking for a point. There is my point, America, because students should not be victims of media giants who take advantage of the law.”
Zack has it right and, “I’m highlighting his post because although both cases centre on American students, Vivendi Universal (France), Sony BMG (Japan and Germany), EMI (Britain), and Warner Music’s (US) sue ‘em all campaigning is international and unless and until the mainstream media focus on these kinds of travesties, innocent people will continue to be victimised in the name of corporate profits,” I said, adding:
” ‘Mary,’ as I’ve called her, didn’t follow through with her threat, but I’ve heard rumours of a tragedy which occurred early on when someone being sued by the RIAA did, in fact, commit suicide.”
“The online media are doing their part and its time offline print and electronic reporters start doing their jobs as well by focusing on the kind of crimes, because that’s what they are, the music and movie studios are getting away with every day.”
A financial impossibility
Since then I’ve heard from the mother of another victim who settled with the RIAA not because she believed her daughter – we’ll call her Jane – had done anything wrong, but because Jane, also a student, was literally on the verge of collapse.
“It is unfortunate that it has ended without the opportunity of a jury’s decision,” she told me. “It became a financial impossibility to fight such a massive organization.”
But this wasn’t the only reason.
The case was “too much” for Jane whose, “response to the lawsuit was always one of aggravated terror … she did not understand why this was happening to her and she was on the verge of a breakdown”.
Jane was would have had to go on being, “continually interrogated like a criminal and having her words twisted like they were”.
So my post today must also call for warm congratulations to the lawyers at Holme Roberts & Owen in Denver (the RIAA’s current hired attack firm).
The company has netted mega bucks by terrorising kids such as Jane, Mary and Brittany, to name only three of hundreds, on behalf of Vivendi Universal (France), Sony BMG (Japan and Germany), EMI (Britain), and Warner Music’s (US) incorrectly named Recording Industry Association of America.
Good job, guys. Pat yourselves in the back.
(Do you think they tell their wives and kids about their day’s work when they go home at night?)
We’d all be living in caves
Over the weekend, I did another post, this time about Patti Santangelo’s decision another to ‘settle’ her daughter’s RIAA case.
When she agreed to pay the extortion, was that the right thing to have done?
I said in a comment post to the story »»»
“I’m grateful and proud of Patricia Santangelo for standing up and fighting,” said Tanya Andersen, an RIAA victim who fought them to a standstill. “She is a very courageous woman who has made a difference in my life and many others. I will never forget her story and sincerely wish her and her family all the best.”
That goes for me as well.
Patti settled. Was she right? And did this represent a win for Vivendi Universal (France), Sony BMG (Japan and Germany), EMI (Britain), and Warner Music (US)? Not in my book, and not by any argument.
And to me, this is about far more than mere copyrights and payments.
As things stand, RIAA (and other **AA) victims have been completely stripped of their basic and supposedly, in the US, inalienable rights. If they were murderers or rapists, they’d have an adequate, and proper, defence, publicly funded, if need be. They’d be guaranteed their day in court, and no commercial enterprise no matter how powerfully connected or how wealthy would be able to prevent that from happening.
But in the file sharing lawsuits, people have no rights. They’re not even defendants. They’re helpess victims because for the labels, the rule of law has been suspended.
Honest and innocent men women, and even children, are routinely humiliated in the mainstream media as they’re held up as criminals and thieves without the slightest shred of proof or evidence, and without having been anywhere near a judge or jury.
Unlike killers, they have no means of defence, and no chance of acquiring it.
Is that the American way?
And it’s not even about justice. It’s about greedy executives in an industry that’s been infamous for its corruption and associations with organised crime since the 30s.
————–
It’s human nature to share and if sharing wasn’t a hard-wired component of person-to-person interaction, we’d all still be living in caves, grubbbing for worms.
Imagine how it’d be if every time someone came up with something interesting to see, hear or do, payment was expected for each and every access, or repetition?
But that’s the way the labels want it, and there’s only one way to stop them — kick them even harder where it hurts.
In their bank-accounts.
Don’t buy any more corporate crap. Nothing.
Could that happen? IMO, it’s happening already. So let’s make it happen more until they open up their catalogues, lower their wholesale prices, make ‘product’ freely and widely available.
And wait for the money to roll in.
The details, licensing, and so on, can be easily worked out once the market is open for general business.
Because if two women with no money and only their determination to stand up for their rights, and the rights of their children, can make the labels pay attention — and they ARE paying attention — you know what’ll happen if everyone with a blog, or who posts on a forum anywhere in the world, carries the message, and everyone who loves music buys only from independent musicians and sites.
Stay tuned, as always.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
February , 2009
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