RIAA: Terrorism By Lawsuit?

When one lobby organization jams the courts with thousands upon thousands of lawsuits (many misguided and factually on shaky ground), might such a group be said to engage in judicial terrorism? I vote aye.

Sometime this month, the Recording Industry Association of America will file its 15,000th lawsuit against Internet users it accuses of illegally downloading music. RIAA catches these supposed miscreants by online sleuthing that is tantamount to snooping. Not that the privacy violations necessarily yield reliable information.

According to documents filed with the Oregon court, Tanya Andersen, a 42-year old single mother, was accused of downloading gangster rap at 4:24 a.m. using the user name gotenkito. The document notes: "Ms Andersen does not like 'gangster rap' music, does not recognize the name 'gotenkito', is not awake at 4:24 a.m., and has never downloaded music." 

You see, Anderson decided to counter-sue.

Count 8 of the document accuses the RIAA of breach of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisation (RICO) laws. The document says: "The record companies directed its agents to unlawfully break into private computers and engage in extreme acts of unlawful coercion, extortion, fraud, and other criminal conduct.

Push enough people around and whaddayaknow: Some of them are going to push back.

Comments

[Phil]

It's too bad that being right rarely helps against millions of dollars in bribes, er, "contributions".

[jack]

not like a civil suit matters unless you are worried about your credit scores. just let them go and try to collect, you can't sieze stuff from individuals unless they have cash in a bank, or an excessive amount of personal property, in texas.