From here:
An Oregon mother has filed suit against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after the organisation withdrew a two-year legal case against her for alleged file sharing.
Tanya Andersen and her eight year-old daughter were charged with downloading gangster rap and other music.
Andersen, who is disabled and a single mother, denied the claims and the RIAA decided to drop the case earlier this month.
The woman has now filed papers to sue not only the RIAA but MediaSentry, a firm which collects evidence of alleged file sharing activity.
Andersen claimed that she asked the RIAA investigators to check out her computer for illegally obtained material, but that they preferred to take legal action, claiming that they knew the time of the file sharing and the user name she was using.
“Instead of dismissing their false claims the defendant record companies persisted in their malicious prosecution and publicly libelled her with demeaning and repulsive accusations,” the court papers read.
“She has no interest in the violent, profane, misogynistic and racist music that the RIAA and its controlling member companies monopolise.”
The RIAA then agreed to inspect Andersen’s computer and found no trace of any shared music nor the software to do so.
Nevertheless, the RIAA still asked for payment and demanded that Andersen’s daughter stand trial with her.
The RIAA was also accused of telephoning the child’s school and asking to speak to her by pretending to be her grandmother.
If the RIAA loses this case, and others, it could open the floodgates to similar cases and force the organisation to rethink its policy.
WTF? Honestly, WTF? Let’s just ignore for an instant the fact that the were wrong, that they had the wrong person.
They wanted an eight-year-old to stand trial? They called the girl’s school pretending to be her grandmother?
The woman offered to prove her innocence (which she absolutely should not have had to!) and they file a lawsuit instead? Then when they do bother to confirm that they are wrong, they want paid anyway?
This is a joke, right? April Fool’s has come around again already?
I know this is old news, but I checked out the site. They’re still going strong.
Here’s the sad thing. I’ve used the legal downloads. Tried several different companies. And the stupid anti-piracy things screwed me over every time! You can only download them a certain number of times. So if I get a glitch or virus or whatever and my files are corrupted, I’m screwed. You can only play them a certain way. With Napster, if you buy the songs but don’t pay for Napster To Go, you can’t load YOUR songs that you paid for onto your MP3 player! And God help you if you get a new computer every two years. In six years (or less, remember the virus?) you’ll have used all your downloads and have to buy the songs all over again. Every last one of them.
But on the other hand–if I do download a song, it’s because I like it and want to hear more. So odds are, when I download a song by a person or group, I’ll get a couple. And if I like them, I’ll buy the CD. Oh, look! Legitimate sale for the company! You can bet I would not be spending $10-17 on a CD I did not know damn well I was going to love! (Brandi Carlisle is the latest example of this. The Story is a great CD!)
So, RIAA, go chase someone making fake CDs. That actually does cost you money. File-sharing, though? That’s just expanding your fanbase. Live with it.