Woman defies record labels
p2p news / p2pnet:- New York’s Patricia Santangelo is proving you don’t have to be a millionaire to take on big-mouthed corporate bullies.
All you need is the courage of your convictions.
The mother of five, Santangelo, 42, is the first ordinary person with ordinary resources to make a determined stand against the huge multinationals EMI (Britain), Warner Music Group (USA), Sony BMG (Japan and Germany) and the biggest of them all, the Universal Music Group (France) which together comprise the Big Music record label cartel.
If you’ve somehow missed this, a p2pnet reader puts it in a nutshell:
Thank you, Mrs Santangelo. It’s long gone time that someone had the courage to stand up to the music industry.
You’ll be an inspiration to a lot of people and let’s hope the mainstream press give as much attention to this as they do to something with no value whatsoever, such as yet another completely insignificant iTunes or Napster marketing event, which they treat as ‘news’.
I take my hat off to you.
Morg
Read p2pnet’s interview with Santangelo.
For now, although much of the attention is presently on this case, it’s only one example of a number of carefully managed, long-term international campaigns featuring the RIAA, IFPI, BPI, BSA and a host of other entertainment and software industry-owned organizations which are using spurious ‘file sharing’ charges to create an atmosphere of panic.
Not one of the men, women and children targetted by the cartels as vicious, hardened criminals has ever seen the inside of a court and consequently, there have been no convictions.
This does not, however, prevent the cartels from making a mockery of the concept, Innocent until Proven Guilty.
With the active and enthusiastic cooperation of many elements of the mainstream print and electronic media, the movie, music and software conglomerates maintain there’s a continuing series of successful prosecutions for the non-existent crime of file sharing.
But as Santangelo emphasises, “Don’t let your fear of these massive companies allow you to deny your belief in your own innocence. Paying these settlements is an admission of guilt. If you’re not guilty of violating the law, don’t pay.”
Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
See:-
interview – RIAA victim talks to p2pnet, September 4, 2005
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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win
- Mohandas Gandhi
September 6th, 2005 at 5:48 am
If handled with caution and deliberation, her defense against the cartels could prove to be quite valuable in debunking their false assertions, accusations, and protestations of profit losses in the billions. In a civil matter, both sides have the right of “discovery” and can quite literally force any party to the action to answer, under penalty of perjury, any questions posed to them regarding any claim or assertion. Mrs. Santangelo could buttonhole one or more of the top executives and put their backs to the wall. Furthermore, she could subpoena records and documents of the cartels and/or their various clients, thus exposing the myths and downright fallacies being perpetrated by those esteemed gentlemen of the entertainment industry.
I studied law for several years, but eventually decided against making it a career. Thus, it has been quite a while since I’ve poked my nose into a law book; but anyone defending himself or herself, without benefit (?) of legal counsel, can be considerably more effective against the adversary, who will not be expecting, nor be prepared for, the piercing and penetrating questions which a defendant has every right to ask and to which he or she has every right to expect answers, no matter how revealing or expository.
To be sure, one would have to submerse oneself into the project with a zeal bordering on fanaticism, and would have to create a solid understanding of the sequence of events which led to the filing of the original claim. One would have to meticulously prepare the questions and be prepared to stave off elusive answers and diversions designed to derail the purpose of the Discovery; one would have to be able to return, doggedly, to the matter at hand until one got the answers to satisfy the intent of the questions.
It gets involved, but it can be a deliciously satisfying experience. I know, because I once acted as my own counsel in a civil suit, from which I emerged victorious. The plaintiffs were not expecting such a spirited and vigorous defense. Like our friends in the **AAs, they usually dealt with cases that fell into place for them, requiring little or no effort on their parts. At the conclusion of the court trial, the judge asked me how much time I had spent on the case. When my answer revealed that I had spent countless hours working on it, he banged his gavel and said “Well, it seems that it was time well spent.”
So go get ‘em, Mrs. Santangelo! Then counter-sue!! They, like so many of their victims, will probably settle out of court!