Second Way To Get RIAA To Drop Case: Die And Get Your Story Told Widely

from the start-making-a-list dept

Tue, Aug 15th 2006 1:07am — Mike Masnick

Last month we pointed to a few examples of the RIAA dropping file sharing lawsuits once it became clear that they couldn't prove who was actually using the internet connection (since they only have IP address info to base their lawsuits on). Trying that is probably a more reasonable method than dying, especially after yesterday's story wondering why the RIAA would keep going after a family after the person named in the suit had died. As we explained, even if it was within the RIAA's legal right to go after the estate (as it is), it seemed like a ridiculously bad move from a PR standpoint, for almost no real gain for the RIAA. It appears that, in fact, no one at the RIAA actually thought through the consequences of pushing on with the case (following a 60 day break to allow the family to "grieve"). However, once the issue started getting a bunch of attention over the weekend on various blogs, the RIAA has now decided to drop the case. They explain that the man who passed away had admitted that his stepson had actually done the file sharing, so they were simply trying to finalize the details of a settlement. However, out of their "abundance of sensitivity" (yes, they used that phrase), they have decided to drop the case. Seems a bit funny that said abundance of sensitivity didn't show up until the equally abundant "bad PR" hit the internet.

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51 Comments

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Xcetron, 15 Aug 2006 @ 1:46am

Equivalent exchange
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dorpus, 15 Aug 2006 @ 1:55am

Can and should
What's to prevent future pirates from taking advantage of dead relatives to steal music?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2006 @ 2:09am

List of things to do before I die
1) download a bunch of songs
2) rack up huge credit debt
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Matthew, 15 Aug 2006 @ 2:12am

Re: Can and should

Can and should by dorpus on Aug 15th, 2006 @ 1:55am
What's to prevent future pirates from taking advantage of dead relatives to steal music?

Spoken in your typical classy fashion, Dorpo.

A man dies and you would demand to press on the search for a couple grand. Who wouldn't rat out their step son, after all, it isn't like it is real flesh-and-blood, is it? And yet they back off based on the political PR issues. Sounds like Republican flip-flopping to me. (MP3s of mass-destruction?)

They have the keys to the candy store and their fingers are getting messy.
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Blackflame (profile), 15 Aug 2006 @ 2:20am

English Lesson
"To Ger" is not a verb.
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Music Pirate, 15 Aug 2006 @ 3:15am

Yeehaw!
Score another win for the HOME TEAM!
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not music pirate, 15 Aug 2006 @ 4:05am

Re: Yeehaw!
All you have to do to get away with excessive file sharing is die. Brilliant!
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2006 @ 4:11am

Yarghhh matey
Ger bent, RIAA!
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VPR, 15 Aug 2006 @ 4:59am

I doubt all the "abundance of sensitivity" were from blogs alone. If I were an artist I would have personally called the RIAA & shared a comment or two concerning their less-than-clever decision.

Their reversal of position doesn't change a damn thing as far as I'm concerned. The fact is they were going to pursue it in the first place.

To the one person who made the decision to grant the 60 day extension instead of just dropping it...well done. Your keen skills may be thorough, but they're far from people-friendly. Since the RIAA's actions are being watched more now than before, perhaps a better location for you is running the mail room.

I hope they pay you well, fricking scavenger.
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thecaptain, 15 Aug 2006 @ 5:05am

Out of an abundance of sensitivity,

*gasp*
*snort*
hehe
*wheeze*
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Seriously guys...who's gonna by that?

Did they manage to choke that out with a straight face? If so, I hope I never get to play poker with these people.
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propstm, 15 Aug 2006 @ 5:19am

Re: Can and should
so we should IP squat? Wait for someone to die off, then quickly gain access to their IP to download as much stuff as possible?
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KevinG79, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:08am

HaHa
Nice try RIAA. We all know you are so full of shit. You're still the same evil business you've always been. Sensitive? Caring? Considerate? LMAO. Why do you fools even TRY to make us think you actually give a shit... PAH-LEESE!
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Sean, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:11am

Perfect solution
I have the perfect solution to keeping the RIAA off your butt. BUY YOUR MUSIC!!!!

iTunes and the like has saved the music industry.
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Dastardly, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:12am

Take Squatting one step further....
Why wait until they die? Find someone who has no real value in society, use their IP to download and upload all the content you can, then help them get out of the lawsuits by offing them yourself. Its no worse than the RIAA's tactics here..

(Just joking, I would not suggest doing that to anyone unless the worked directly for the RIAA... Hmmmmmmm....)
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Dastardly, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:17am

re: Perfect Solution
Its not about keeping the RIAA off your butt, (though that is about as simple as not stealing, and securing your wifi network) however, the RIAA is an evil orginization and as such deserves to be the focus of a holy crusade. It IS NOT OK to fight crime with crime.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:22am

"abundance of sensitivity"

LOL, LOL, LOL - that's the funniest thing I've heard for a long time.

The RIAA having an "abundance of sensitivity" - reminds me of all the snow in the sahara desert..

Oh wait.. there's no snow in a desert!
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:24am

Re: Perfect solution
No, there's one better way to keep the RIAA off your butt.. Don't buy ANY music :)

Don't download it illegally either though..

Just listen to the radio, lol.

I won't buy from any artist that's associated with the RIAA, period. Ever.

Anyone know of a list out there of artists who are NOT members of the RIAA?
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welovtod/l, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:30am

to buy or not to buy
i hate it when people say if you would just buy the music it would all be ok. thats bull Shit we download to listen and if we think it is worth the 12 or 13 dollers to buy the shit then we will buy it. so dont tell me that we are killing the industry buy down loading the shit. they make enough money off of one cd to live a life time.
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RobG, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:30am

Power to the bloggers!
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Spartacus, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:31am

Probably not original
Wouldn't it be awesome if someone would sneak onto the RIAA headquarters computer network and downloaded and uploaded gigs of music? I bet you'd have an overzealous lawyer see an IP addy and just decide to sue before he/she found out who it belonged to. This is probably not an original suggestion but I'd love to read about someone doing it some day.
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Celes, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:46am

Re: Re: Can and should
How come whenever someone says something stupid, someone else remarks on their political affiliation?

I know plenty of people from all parties who are stupid, greedy, and pigheaded. (Note that I said "all", not "both". I'm registered independent, and all the little parties under that flag have them too.)

Some of them are so pigheaded that they use "Republican" or "Democrat" as a derogatory term. There are intelligent, caring, good people in all parties, too.
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Sanguine Dream, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:48am

Ha Ha Ha
This is for all the people that whined about RIAA was only going for the estate. If the RIAA really was just going for the estate of the deceased, then why suddenly drop the lawsuit?
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AdverseE, 15 Aug 2006 @ 7:03am

Maybe we should all stop and ask...
What about all the good things that the RIAA has done?
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yangyang, 15 Aug 2006 @ 7:09am

Re Ha Ha Ha
You really don't get it do you Sanguine Dream, once they caught on to the bad press, they gave up their greedy ambitions and decided to cut out in the hopes of making some kind of endearing statement about themselves. Still, anyone feeling rotten about the RIAA can comfort themselves with the thought that sooner (rather than later) their long spindly grasping miserly misanthropic fingers will soon drop off when the final nail in their coffin is driven in. Internet being the proverbial hammer.
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yangyang (profile), 15 Aug 2006 @ 7:12am

Well, AdverseE
Why don't you enlighten the world and tell us all about the good thing the RIAA have done for us?
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Wizard Prang, 15 Aug 2006 @ 7:20am

It's called a typo.
Ger over it.

:)
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Wizard Prang, 15 Aug 2006 @ 7:23am

Good Things?
Such as..?
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Freeverse, 15 Aug 2006 @ 7:34am

Freemusic
http://magnatune.com/

Non-RIAA music. You can chose to pay as much or as little as you think the artist deserves. Give it a run!
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Bull Shifter, 15 Aug 2006 @ 8:05am

Re: to buy or not to buy
Hey, buddy. I've heard of this invention that's been around for a while. It's got a couple of knobs on it. One says "ON-OFF" and the other has a bunch of numbers on it - 88 to 108 - or something like that. If you turn that "On - OFF" knob past the little clicky thing you'll hear noise come out of it. If you turn the other knob, you hear music. I couldn't believe it. You can hear Country, Rap, Rock, all kinds of stuff!!!

You want samples? Turn the friggin' radio on.
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Bill, 15 Aug 2006 @ 8:14am

Bad Rap
I doubt the RIAA dropped the suit because of bad PR they have enough of that as it is to let a few blogs stop a lawsuit.
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ugly_john, 15 Aug 2006 @ 8:18am

The only thing I see is "abundance of greedity" with RIAA and its lawyers
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Sanguine Dream, 15 Aug 2006 @ 8:27am

Re: Re Ha Ha Ha
I do get it. My bad for not adding the sarcasm markers on that statement. This story came up here a few days ago and a few people went into how RIAA may have pursued simply to get a piece of the estate. That first post I made was just for them. My point was that just like most of the other actions the RIAA has been taking money is not the immediate short term goal. The short term goals are power, fear, and media spin and this sudden dropping of case is definitely media spin. And you could call their initial desicion to go after the estate fear.
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Astral, 15 Aug 2006 @ 8:27am

Re: Perfect solution
I'm sorry but, I don't think thats good enough. What about case after case where the defendant had not downloaded music or even used a computer in some cases. The RIAA doesn't give a damn they just wanna get paid!
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callmenobody, 15 Aug 2006 @ 8:59am

find the RIAA
Find people who work for the RIAA.

There are so many unsecure Wifi's out there that certainly members of RIAA have them too.

Camp on some RIAA WiFi's, download lots of stuff and see how they like going after themselves.
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cybercop, 15 Aug 2006 @ 9:01am

Re:
Look up the term Desert. A desert is defined by the amount of rain fall. Snow does not count! as it is most of Alaska and the areas surounding both poles ARE Deserts!
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jsnbase, 15 Aug 2006 @ 9:11am

On principle alone
I fully support any course of action where death is only the first step.
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VPR, 15 Aug 2006 @ 9:28am

Anyone know of a list out there of artists who are NOT members of the RIAA?

Ironically I thought about doing this myself but figured there was already a site that had that information.

What about all the good things that the RIAA has done?

Ever hear the term "One "awe-shit" ruins all the "atta-boys" you had"? In this case the RIAA can't seem to stop their trend of "awe-shits"...or just don't care to.

Honestly, what type of person tells a kid he should drop out of school because he downloaded music files?
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Rich, 15 Aug 2006 @ 9:49am

Re: Re: Perfect solution
RIAA-FREE MUSIC http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/
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Bull Shifter, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:04am

RIAA
I went to the RIAA website. It is basically an organization which represents the record companies. The record companies represent the artists, record their music, and tend to various business enterprises, I would imagine. If you're going to condemn RIAA, then condemnation would be in order from top to bottom: RIAA, the record companies, and the artists.

Although their techniques aren't that palatable, this case of overkill is greatly blown out of proportion. Everyone is siezing on this one instance to rationalize and justify what is basically an illegal activity. I've read on this and the previous post, comparisons to Hitler, Little Big Horn, etc, ad-nauseum, so that people can say this. RIAA is wrong so I can do wrong.

It reminds me rearing my kids. One of the boys comes home crying because the neighbor kid hit him. I go to check things out and come to find out my kid started the whole thing by taunting and hitting the neighbor kid himself. The moral is this. When you look at things only on the surface they appear alot more damning that if you start peeling back the onion to get the whole picture. Same goes for the MIT student. Look at the whole picture. Ask the hard questions. How much music did the guy ILLEGALLY download. Was it one song? I doubt it. The guy obviously had the whole Motown collection, the Classic Rock library '64-'69, etc, and made no bones about sharing his booty.

No matter what anyone says, your momma's taught you this. Don't mess with it if it doesn't belong to you
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:24am

Is the UPLOADING that gets you.
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KevinG79, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:27am

Re: RIAA
Fuck you, Bull Shifter. You and your pro-RIAA friends once again totally miss the point. I will say it again... the advent of online file sharing has actually HELPED record sales. When will you idiots (RIAA supporters and the RIAA itself) REALIZE that? And perhaps if a CD with 10 shitty songs out of 13 didn't sell for $21.99, more people would actually buy CDs.

And I just love how you call me a criminal for downloading a song...but yet you fail to see the true criminal. Oh, you went to their bullshit website and that made you feel good about their business, right? You actually believed all their BS progaganda and that the RIAA is "there for the artist." You are so friggen BLIND. The RIAA steals more from the artists than any downloader ever could.
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Starky, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:27am

Re: Re: Perfect solution
BoycottRIAA has a list
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Don Gray, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:33am

Why has...
no one asked what impact the RIAA dropping this suit has on future lawsuits?

The RIAA has demonstrated in this case that they really weren't harmed by the activity that the decesaed was acused of. They say they were in settlement talks, but have now decided to abandon any claims and essentially accept a settlement of zero dollars.

If the RIAA was truly damaged by this activity then they wouldn't have settled for $0...

If I ever got sued by the RIAA (interesting, since I don't download music...) I would point directly to this case.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:34am

Its the UPLOADING that gets you.
Crap, sorry for empty post.

The RIAA has yet to sue anyone for downloading. Each and every case has been brought against someone for distributing (uploading/sharing).

That may not seem like a big difference on the surface, but it is a HUGE difference legally.
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DittoBox, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:52am

Re: Re: Can and should
Pssst...don't feed the trolls!
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DittoBox, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:54am

Re: Re: Re: Can and should
There are intelligent, caring, good people in all parties, too.

Show me one —just one— and I'll believe you.
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mikee, 15 Aug 2006 @ 11:05am

Re: Re: Perfect solution
Here is the link to the latest list of RIAA members. This is direct from RIAA's website: http://www.riaa.com/about/members/default.asp
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Tin Ear, 15 Aug 2006 @ 12:42pm

Re: Take Squatting one step further....
Better than that, what IP addys are the RIAA people using? Could we get them to chase their own tails?
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Bull Shifter, 15 Aug 2006 @ 12:56pm

Re: Re: RIAA
And back at 'cha, baby doll. What does what you've stated have to do with the fact that:

A - downloading and distributing files is illegal

B - If you download and distribute files, someone will come after you.

That, my exciteable friend, is the point.

The other statements you've made are rationalizations. Oh, and I didn't call you a criminal. It's an "if the shoe fits" situation. So, you incriminated yourself. Also, I cut to the chase and gave a down and dirty assessment of their overall purpose. Again, you called them "there for the artist."

Yes, I wear corrective lenses. They obviously help me see the bottom line on the issue. More than I can say for you. You're dealing with fluff, buddy, and your view is clouded with a child-like rage due to the fact that someone is out to make people responsible for their actions. I can see why you're angry. People don't like to "Man up" and say, you know, I fucked up.
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Mike (profile), 15 Aug 2006 @ 3:34pm

Re: Re: Re: RIAA
They obviously help me see the bottom line on the issue.

Funny then that you seem to totally miss the bottom line. The point is that the RIAA's actions have continued to hurt their business by pissing off their biggest fans. The "bottom line" is coming up with a new business model that embraces what the fans want, rather than pissing them off at every turn and calling out the lawyers.

I have said repeatedly that I do not condone the distribution of unauthorized files. I don't download or share songs myself. It is illegal.

However, the "bottom line" is that it's a bad business policy for the RIAA to go down this route rather than looking for ways to deliver what people want.
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Bull Shifter, 16 Aug 2006 @ 4:16am

Re: Re: Re: Re: RIAA
Sorry, Buddy, you missed the target. There is a difference between the bottom line and a side issue.

"the RIAA's actions have continued to hurt their business by pissing off their biggest fans" This is a result of the RIAA's actions. Besides, if I recall, the RIAA has no fans. It's a trade organization comprised of record companies. When's the last time you, as a fan, went to an RIAA concert?

"...coming up with a new business model that embraces what the fans want, rather than pissing them off at every turn." What these "fans" want is free music. If you had a box of cookies and your friends kept taking them from you without asking, would you come up with a new business model that embraces your friends so that you wouldn't piss them off..... for stealing your cookies?

"the "bottom line" is that it's a bad business policy for the RIAA to go down this route." It's actually good business policy for the RIAA to not only go down this route but to also take up all 4 lanes on this road. They're recovering money lost from file sharing. And, don't YOU go down the "route" of saying the artists/record labels/etc make too much as it is. That's called free enterprise, and, again, it's a side issue. If you were The Beastie Boys, you'd want to be able to make money off of your record "sales" as well as anyone else.
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