Is the RIAA’s Sherman a liar?
p2p news / p2pnet: Yesterday we featured a Q&A between senior RIAA fact adjustment specialist Cary Sherman and a number of college newspaper reporters.
We gave one example of how Sherman distorts (to be kind) the truth. File-sharing has “been either level or gone up only slightly,” he stated.
In reality, the efforts of Sherman, his boss, Mitch ‘The Don’ Bainwol and other RIAA spinsters have had zero effect on p2p file sharing and in fact, the number of people logging onto the p2p networks continues to rise, and steeply.
New York lawyer Ray Beckerman, who represents Patricia Santangelo among other RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) victims, told p2pnet he was shocked to see the quote below in our coverage:
“UMass – Amherst, The Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Thank you for your answer, Mr Sherman. Is it not rather harsh of the RIAA to be suing college students that most likely will not have the ability to pay the fines imposed on them? And along those same lines will the RIAA still follow though with the lawsuits even after all the p2p networks are shutdown and college students get the point and stop downloading music illegally?
“Sherman: Obviously, anyone who has stopped downloading (or uploading) illegally will not get sued.”
Says Beckerman, “I know many people who are being sued who never even started uploading or downloading, and everyone I’ve spoken to who ever did do any uploading or downloading of copyrighted recordings stopped LONG before the lawsuit was brought.
“All of the people, whether they’d ever done it or not, were willing to sign a cease and desist agreement. But this wasn’t enough for the RIAA.
“The RIAA sued them anyway, in most cases knowing the person had stopped (or had never started). And the RIAA won’t drop the suit even after it learns that.
“It will only drop the lawsuit if the person pays it $3,750 or $4,500, and agrees to an extremely onerous, fake ’settlement agreement’ which leaves him or her exposed to additional lawsuits.
“So either (1) Cary Sherman is a liar, or (2) his lawyers aren’t following his instructions.”
Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local political representatives. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance.
Also read:-
fact adjustment specialist – The RIAA: spinning like a top, November 21, 2005
Patricia Santangelo – RIAA victim talks to p2pnet, September 4, 2005
November 22nd, 2005 at 5:31 pm
well we already know Cary is a liar…..
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:15 am
The following quote appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, Tuesday, Nov 22, 2005:
“The problem with the Sony BMG situation is that the technology they used contained a security vulnerability of which they were unaware. They have apologized for their mistake, ceased manufacture of CDs with that technology, and pulled CDs with that technology from store shelves. Seems very responsible to me.”
â¦..RIAA head Cary Sherman
This one short statement is so full of lies it boggles the mind! Itâs ludicrous to suggest that Sony did not know of the security flaws in the software it commissioned through a software firm in the United Kingdom. It had to have set in place some sort of apparatus to receive and database the information being fed to it from the computers affected by the RootKit software. Therefore, prior knowledge is a foregone conclusion.
They did not apologize for their âmistakeâ, they apologized for any inconvenience caused by having to return the CDs to Sony BMG. To date, they have not apologized for their criminal actions in invading and infecting personal computers with illegal software.
They have not pulled the offensive CDs from store shelves; they have written letters recommending that storeowners pull the CDs and return them to Sony.
And âresponsibleâ is not the word I would have chosen to describe Sonyâs attitude or behavior throughout this entire sordid affair.
Cary Sherman a liar? What a shocking assertion!