March 25, 2008
Lawsuit Argues That Recording Industry's Methods for Detecting Piracy Are Illegal
A legal battle that began nearly three years ago when the Recording Industry Association of America sued the parent of a 7-year-old girl for allegedly downloading pirated music has wound up raising questions about the legality of the industry group’s investigative tactics. Now the case is entering a new chapter that could have implications for the the RIAA’s legal campaign against college students.
The saga began on a summer night in 2005, when Tanya Andersen and her young daughter, Kylee, got an unexpected knock at the door during dinner. They were served notice of a lawsuit alleging that someone used a computer in the house to illegally download songs—including “Shake That Ass Bitch” and “Dope Nose“—under the Internet nickname “gotenkito.”
In court documents, Ms. Andersen denies that anyone in the house ever listened to the songs, much less stole them. She listens to CDs rather than digital music, she says, and is a member of a record company’s CD-of-the-month club. She did a Google search and found a MySpace page of a neighbor who goes by “gotenkito,” and she told the industry group, through her lawyer, that the neighbor was the more likely culprit.
But the RIAA felt that the digital trail led back to the Andersens.
As it has done with lawsuits against college students around the country, the RIAA offered to settle the case if Ms. Andersen paid a few thousand dollars. But Ms. Andersen decided to fight back in federal court and even countersued, arguing that the way the organization hunts for music pirates is illegal. The RIAA employs a company called Media Sentry to search out copyright infringers.
Lory R. Lybeck, a lawyer for Ms. Andersen, said in an interview Tuesday that Media Sentry essentially acts as a private investigator, but does so without the official license that most states require for such activities.
In federal court, Ms. Andersen pressed the RIAA to reveal details of how it came to identify her or her daughter as music pirates. Instead the industry group decided last year to drop its lawsuit against her. This month Ms. Andersen resubmitted her countersuit as its own case in United States District Court in Portland, Ore., asking a the court to stop the industry group from continuing its investigations.
Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the RIAA, said that other courts have ruled that the way the industry group handles its investigations is perfectly legal. “What Media Sentry does is, they log on to peer-to-peer networks that are public networks,” she said. “This is all public activity. These are all public networks. The information is public information.”
“We follow the letter of the law in our legal process,” she said. —Jeffrey R. Young
Posted on Tuesday March 25, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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Media sentry is still investigating for you the riaa and is illegal no matter how you tossahs dress it up get real ur asses cant get out of this lil tight spot
— toker Mar 25, 07:15 PM #
one too many, I suspect.
— wm Mar 26, 10:19 AM #
If the RIAA wants to stop piracy, then the coporations it represents should stop ripping off people with obscene prices for CDs and other music.
— Music Liberation Mar 26, 11:29 AM #
So the RIAA believed the letter of the law was followed when they sued a 7 year old girl? I’d like to see that letter. Now the RIAA retreats when pressured to reveal evidence through a lawsuit. Pay back does not feel good, am I correct RIAA?
— Frank Mar 26, 11:38 AM #
Both Stalin & Hitler would be proud of how the riaa attempts to play gunslinger, judge, jury & executioner against U.S. citizens. No oversight, no accountability, no being held to any legal mores. The riaa is a herd of dinosaurs futilly attempting to hang onto the past instead of embracing the future (because they know the future will bring extinction since they have NO clue as to how to evolve with technology).
Stick a fork in them – they’re done!
— Gary Mar 26, 11:46 AM #
I would like to see the RIAA go after congressman, senators, and elite entertainers who downloaded music. That will never happen I’m sure. I hope the RIAA is discontinuing it’s legal pursuit of dead people :0)
— Frank Mar 26, 11:47 AM #
If I’m not mistaken, I believe that “Shake That Ass Bitch” is the theme song to the Saturday morning cartoon show “Calico Ho and Wino Joe.” I think it’s sponsored by KY-4- Kids (the K’s are backwards in the logo…cute!!). So it’s quite possible a 7 year old might have downloaded it.
— marci Mar 26, 12:10 PM #
I think global warming is to blame for the confused download. It’s been known to affect the weather, and everyone knows that the weather affects internet connections. So there’s no telling who really downloaded the music. RIAA should just stop harassing college students and do something about global warming.
— Chicken Little Mar 26, 12:59 PM #
My friend/coworker got fired over this download crap. These people suck. NICE of them to help a single mother loose her job. Way to make your point.
— pissed Apr 3, 04:48 PM #
The truth is, no court has ever decided on the legality of the MediaSentry investigations. MediaSentry is in the busingess of private ivestigation for hire. Duckworth is flat lying if she is saying differently.
— SweetDaddy Apr 28, 06:29 PM #