The latest chapter to the file-sharing battle between some Boston University students and the recording industry centers on MediaSentry.
The business tries to ferret out copyright violators by scouring peer-to-peer networks for the Internet-protocol numbers of students who swap music online. The business downloads some songs and takes a snapshot of the students’ music files. The Recording Industry Association of America has been using MediaSentry to help identify students who the industry-group later sues.
But a lawyer for the students informed a federal judge Wednesday that MediaSentry’s investigations are “unlicensed and illegal” in Massachusetts. The lawyer Raymond Sayeg, of Boston, claims MediaSentry received a January cease and desist order by the Massachusetts State Police. Because of this, Mr. Sayeg is asking the judge to void the recording-industry group’s court filings.
The lawyer also is asking the judge, Nancy Gertner, to reconsider her order last week. The judge gave the students a sympathetic ruling but did not throw out the recording-industry group’s complaint against the students.—Andrea L. Foster
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