p2p news / p2pnet: We’ve been calling the members of the Big Four record label cartel the Organized Music family since around October last year.

Tanya Andersen, 42, a disabled mother, lives alone with her eight-year-old daughter. The two exist on government disability payments.

EMI, Warner Music, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG are accusing her of downloading and sharing music online but she says the accusation is entirely false and, like Patti Santangelo, is demanding a jury trial to prove it.

In addition, she launched a counter suit against the Big Four’s RIAA under the Oregon RICO Act, claiming the RIAA qualified because it had committed at least two acts of racketeering.

RICO is short for Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization and it was originally created to combat Organized Crime as epitomised by the Mafia families.

The Big Four’s RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) wants Andersen’s RICO suit dismissed and she, in her turn, has asked to have the RIAA’s complaint thrown out, says Recording Industry vs The People.

Andersen, who lives off a fixed income from Social Security, says she’s never shared or downloaded music in her life and before the RIAA attacked her, told its ‘investigators’ they could examine her computer any time they wanted.

But the record companies have never bothered.

"I have always been against music downloading," said Andersen last year after being approached by Mark Eilers from the Tukwila, Washington, ‘Settlement Centre’ who was demanding money to make the RIAA go away.

"In fact, I have been a member of BMG’s music club for quite some time and I purchase my music either from there or from Target," said Andersen. "When I first got my computer set up almost three years ago, I had a friend set it up for me since I did not know how to do it. She had put Kaaza Lite on there and told me what it was. I never used it and had no interest in doing so. I deleted it since I had no use for it. Even though I deleted it correctly, as is recommended by Microsoft, Mr. Eilers has told me it can hide out in my system and play without me knowing about it. I have done a total check of my computer and it is no where on there.

"These files you are speaking accusing me of sharing (which Mr. Eiler told me about), are not and never have been on my computer system. Several of those artists, I have never even heard of! One, I understand, is a rap song. I am 42-years-old and do not even like rap music. The login that this person who did this apparently used, which Mr. Eiler told me of, is not a login name I have ever used or heard of.

"There is no one at my household who could have done what is being said at all. Mr. Eiler had brought up the fact that maybe a babysitter could have done it and that is impossible because I seldom have a sitter since I can’t afford to pay one and am usually home."

The RICO pattern Andersen accuses the RIAA of, "constituted a common course of conduct used by plaintiffs to target thousands of citizens throughout the United States," says Lory R. Lybeck of Lybeck Murphy, the Washington law firm which is acting for her.

"These activities shared the common objectives of seeking payment of thousands of dollars from each person targeted, regardless of their innocence. These acts had the same or similar purposes, results, participants, victims and methods of commission.

"The predicate acts of racketeering include, but are not limited to attempted violations of Oregon’s coercion statute ORS 163.275 in furtherance of a plan to commit coercion is a violation of ORICO 166.720.

" These unlawful activities were not isolated. The record companies have repeated this coercive conduct with many other victims throughout the United States. Settlement Support Center, has reportedly engaged in the same pattern of threatening and coercive conduct.

"In 2004, the record companies targeted another innocent person in this scheme. When presented with evidence that the defendant did not engage in any of the downloading activities, plaintiffs insisted that her lack of involvement was irrelevant and that plaintiffs reportedly threatened that they would sue her for hundreds of thousands of dollars whether or not she had ever engaged in the alleged file sharing, ‘It didn’t matter. Someone is responsible and someone is going to have to pay’."

February 27 is the date set for both hearings.

Also See:
Tanya Andersen - The ‘We’re Not Taking Any More’ club, September 17, 2005
Patti Santangelo - Patti Santangelo fights on, January 27, 2006
acts of racketeering - Victim sues RIAA under RICO Act, October 1, 2005
Recording Industry vs The People - Tanya Andersen Case Heats Up. RIAA Seeks Dismissal of Counterclaims. Tanya Seeks Dismissal of RIAA’s Complaint, January 30, 2006

This entry was posted on Monday, January 30th, 2006 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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