The Electronic Frontier Foundation has an in-depth report on the first five years of the RIAA’s lawsuits against file sharers: On September 8, 2003, the recording industry sued 261 American music fans for sharing songs on peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks, kicking off an unprecedented legal campaign against the people that should be the recording … Continue reading RIAA Suing Fans: Five Years Later
Well, the RIAA didn’t technically lose the trial, but a federal judge declared a mistrial and threw out the verdict against a Kazaa user who had been ordered to pay the recording industry $222,000 for allegedly sharing music online: U.S. District Judge Michael Davis of Duluth, Minn., declared a mistrial in the case against Thomas, … Continue reading RIAA Loses Another Filesharing Trial
So remember that court case we talked about a couple months ago, the one where the RIAA was saying that just making the files available equals infringement even if nobody downloaded them from you? Well, the RIAA lost. Big Victory in Atlantic v. Howell: Court Rejects RIAA "Making Available" Theory: In its order (pdf), the … Continue reading RIAA Loses "Making Available" Case
Business Week looks into a single mom’s private war with the recording industry: Does She Look Like a Music Pirate? After being sued by the music industry for stealing songs and winning the case’s dismissal, Andersen is now taking the record industry to court. Her case is aimed at exposing investigative practices that are controversial … Continue reading Winning the War Against the RIAA
The Oregon state Attorney General’s office has submitted a brief questioning the data mining tactics and subpoena practices employed by the RIAA. The gist is that the AG is asking how the RIAA identified 17 University of Oregon students accused of copyright infringement since the university was unable to provide details on user-to-IP address mapping … Continue reading Oregon Challenges RIAA Tactics
The Washington Post admits it missed the fundamental premise of the widely reported copyright infringement lawsuit, Atlantic vs. Howell.
Greg Kot examines how Radiohead’s ‘customer is always right’ approach contrasts with music industry’s hardball tactics, and gets a fine quote from indie rock’s poster boy: “I think what will happen is a lot of people will download the album for free,” says Spoon singer-guitarist Britt Daniel, “but when it goes on sale, I bet … Continue reading Spoon + Radiohead vs. RIAA + [Bad] Bands
According to Variety, the RIAA faces a very serious lawsuit that could force them to stop suing their customers: The case — filed in Oregon and asserting claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act — details the RIAA’s alleged use of “illegal and flawed” methods when … Continue reading RIAA Brought Up On RICO Charges (Finally)
Sometimes it seems like every single sucker who gets hassled by the RIAA for filesharing rolls over and pays the $3,750 settlement to put the whole mess behind them. A lot of them do. But more and more people are refusing to be coerced into accepting that deal. And lately, when people fight it, they … Continue reading The RIAA Doesn’t Always Win
Looks like the RIAA has dropped another file sharing case where the defendant refused to settle: “Wilke had been accused of the usual malfeasance by the RIAA: sharing music over a P2P network. Instead of settling the suit as many others have done, Wilke denied any wrongdoing.” And check this out: “Since the RIAA began … Continue reading RIAA Drops Another Lawsuit
