p2p news / p2pnet: In yesterday’s Tanya Andersen post, we pointed out the multi-billion-dollar Big Four Organized Music cartel is accusing this 43-year-old Oregon mother, who’s surviving on Social Security disability payments, of sharing files.

She protests that she’s done no such thing and that she has absolutely no idea why she’s being singled out by Warner Music, Vivendi Universal, Sony BMG or EMI, all four of whom are currently under US federal and state investigation for fixing the pricing of their digital music downloads, as well as bribery charges.

She’s been trying to get the Big Four to look at her hard drive to prove her point, but the labels have always ignored her plea —- until recently when they suddenly wanted to take her up on her long-standing offer.

But they wanted more. They wanted 100% access, a demand that was turned down by judge Donald Ashmanskas who said Andersen could hire an independent private forensic expert to look for specific files.

“Finally!!!” - she told p2pnet. “I’ve been asking them to look at the computer ever since I first heard from them. I’m glad the judge has finally given me the opportunity to show I didn’t do what I’m being accused of, and that the RIAA won’t be able to just search through my entire computer and invade my privacy by looking at stuff they don’t need to look at, like tax info, family photos, financial stuff, etc.”

Ashmanskas also ordered the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) to pay for the examination.

Techdirt was among the sites which covered the story and, “The real issue here is the fact that the riaa can have this woman’s computer ‘checked’ by a forensics expert at all,” says scatcat. “Would the judge be so quick to grant the average joe taxpayer’s request to have someone elses computer examined?”

“I tend to agree,” says Wolfger. “This is like me claiming you have stolen a CD from me, and so you have to hire a forensics expert to search your house for any traces of the CD I claim you stole. It’s ludicrous. I doubt the police could get a search warrant so easily as the RIAA appears to be doing.”

“Good on you Tanya !” - says a p2pnet comment, “The walls around their garden are starting to crash and if you win this RICO case, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t accept a settlement …”

“Right now, the whole working-man world is waiting anxiously to see the outcome of your case,” says another. “You should feel insulated by the millions … who are holding nothing but good thoughts for you. You are a true hero!”

“Give ‘em Hell, Tanya !” - says a third.

Meanwhile, don’t forget about the Patti Santangelo Fight Goliath campaign which, sadly, has all-but ground to a halt. We’ll be running a Patti update soon.

And don’t forget about another New Yorker, Tenise Barker, who now has not only the RIAA, but also its partners in crime, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) against her.

Both organizations say p2p file sharing is costing them billions of dollars in lost sales, and yet neither has ever been able to satisfactorily demonstrate the accuracy of their claims.

They both say file sharers are thieves, although nothing has been stolen, and that the lawsuits are forcing people away from the p2p networks, when the exact opposite is true.

And the RIAA and MPAA boast of thriving corporate download markets when in fact despite the millions spent on PR and marketing blitzes, stacked against what’s happening with independent sites and on the networks, industry efforts are so trivial that they barely register.

It’s only a matter of time before the entertainment cartel bosses cave in, forced by their shareholders to accept the reality of the 21st digital century - that their customers must be wooed, not sued, and that p2p is their savior, not their enemy.

But until that happens, other Andersens or Santagelos or Barkers and their children will have to suffer needlessly.

Stay tuned.

Also See:
Techdirt - Judge Tells RIAA They Don’t Get To Randomly Hunt Through Everyone’s Computers, March 20, 2006
Tanya Andersen - phpBB mass hack being prepared?, March 19, 2006
federal and state investigation - DoJ probes Big Music downloads, March 3, 2006
bribery charges - 9 radio stations in bribery probe, February 9, 2005
Tenise Barker - MPAA backs RIAA in p2p case, March 18, 2006

This entry was posted on Monday, March 20th, 2006 at 11:14 am 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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