RIAA Backs Down Slightly After Being Countersued For Trying To Shame Man Into Settling
from the yet-again dept
If you hadn't noticed by now, the RIAA will go to great lengths to get people they accuse of file sharing to "settle" a case before it ever goes to court -- especially when the evidence they have is especially flimsy. However, with the threat of much bigger fines as a possibility, many people feel compelled to simply pay up and move on. Luckily, some people fight back -- and the RIAA almost always ends up backing down when the facts are presented. The latest such case takes place in Tennessee, as pointed out by Ray Beckerman. A soldier was accused of unauthorized file sharing for six songs, but in the evidence filed with the court, the RIAA lawyers included screenshots showing 4,600 files from the guy's computer including pornographic content. The guy claims that this clearly has nothing to do with the case, but is a situation where the RIAA is abusing a copyright infringement claim to try to shame the guy into settling. He still insists he's innocent and that lots of other people had access to his computer at the time the charges refer to. After countersuing over this issue, the RIAA has now backed down from listing the 4,600 files and is now only showing 367 sound recordings that it believes are infringing. Rather than admitting that it was abusing the lawsuit to pressure the guy into settling (and this change is due to the countersuit), the RIAA's lawyers claim they've made this change as a "professional courtesy." How nice of them.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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No Joke
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Re:
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sounds like a plan, i'll bring the hotdogs
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Professional Courtesy
Why don't sharks eat lawyers?
Professional Courtesy
If you wanted to change it for the RIAA:
Why don't hyenas eat RIAA executives?
Professional Courtesy
Thank you Thank you, please remember to tip the waitstaff
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I'd gladly claim my porn
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Re: I'd gladly claim my porn
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Blow em all up
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whoa
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We just need to follow their example...
More info can be found on Ray's blog here.
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civil action ?
looks like 4200+ instances of illegal search, imho
diaRIAA will never go after criminal action against anyone
criminal law is too restrictive and ties their hands
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"sorry, I just accidentally smashed it to bits with a hammer."
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Re: Re: Contempt
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If you don't want to get sued
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"Professional Courtesy"
On a separate note, Firefox's spell checker flags "RIAA" as an error. It's probably on to something there. :-)
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Re: "Professional Courtesy"
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RIAA Backs Down Slightly
It seems that RIAA is now the new internet bully around the block, a kettle calling the pot black.
The guy was brilliant in counter suing them and forcing them to back down.
Sometimes, it pays to stand up to a bully, and hit back.
Ikey Benney
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Although, I think I've figured out what RIAA means - really..
Racketeers in Abusive Action.
Fitting... no? :)
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RIAA
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Re: RIAA
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Anyone remember...
"Sure, we copied albums and cassette tapes when we were kids but we're going to sue the pants off those that copy our stuff."
I still refuse to buy their 'music' and turn the channel whenever they come on. Jerks.
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national threat
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