It's looking like the RIAA's gestapo tactics are starting to unravel.....
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/07/09/13/221257.shtml
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/07/09/13/221257.shtml
RIAA Complaint Dismissed as "Boilerplate"
- Thread starter DougF
- Start date
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Couldn't happen to a group of nicer folks. Don't go away mad, just go away.
I had a guy come up to me at a wedding and tell me he was from the RIAA and wanted to see my CD collection. I initially told him that I was playing with MP3s, gave him a card, and told him to call me to set up an appointment. I was going to ignore him when he called, but that's another story.
Well, he kept pestering me so I told him that this was a private affair and he really didn't have that right for those. He insisted on pestering me and ticked me off.
I asked the bride and groom if they knew him. They didn't. I got a copy of the guest list and then, the next time he came up I asked him who he was and what table he was seated at and he told me. I went to the table and nobody there knew him. He was escorted out.
If you are going to crash a wedding, don't make a nusance of yourself.
I had a guy come up to me at a wedding and tell me he was from the RIAA and wanted to see my CD collection. I initially told him that I was playing with MP3s, gave him a card, and told him to call me to set up an appointment. I was going to ignore him when he called, but that's another story.
Well, he kept pestering me so I told him that this was a private affair and he really didn't have that right for those. He insisted on pestering me and ticked me off.
I asked the bride and groom if they knew him. They didn't. I got a copy of the guest list and then, the next time he came up I asked him who he was and what table he was seated at and he told me. I went to the table and nobody there knew him. He was escorted out.
If you are going to crash a wedding, don't make a nusance of yourself.
The RIAA is not a law enforcement agency and you have no obligation to comply with any request they make. Unless they have a court order or warrant, tell them to get out of your face and take a walk.
RIAA was operating with less than honorable tactics filing civil suits in such a manor that the person being sued had almost no time to respond or get legal representation before a summary judgment would be issued.
What has been the week link was the courts as they still aren't computer, internet and tech savy and took a lot of what was told them by the RIAA as fact when in fact all the tactics used to "find" the violators and methodology used, in reality even under ideal conditions wouldn't yield the results for identification that the RIAA investigators(whom may not have been properly licensed btw to conduct said investigations) claimed.
The big issue that has been raised was not so much whether guilty people were caught, but as to whether possibly innocent people who had legal mp3s were wrongly accused based on flawed data, investigations and proceedures and that the RIAA was conducting the proceedings in such a way as to maximize their chance of getting "settlement money" instead of going to trial. Nothing short of outright fraud just to scare people and get them to roll over. Some may be guilty, some may be not guilty, others, computer illiterates, clueless.
Up until recently, when anyone started fighting back they'd back away and tried to minimize the situation in such a way that the incident would go away and stay under the radar. But that has now even fallen apart as people and the courts become more aware of what is REALLY going on.
What has been the week link was the courts as they still aren't computer, internet and tech savy and took a lot of what was told them by the RIAA as fact when in fact all the tactics used to "find" the violators and methodology used, in reality even under ideal conditions wouldn't yield the results for identification that the RIAA investigators(whom may not have been properly licensed btw to conduct said investigations) claimed.
The big issue that has been raised was not so much whether guilty people were caught, but as to whether possibly innocent people who had legal mp3s were wrongly accused based on flawed data, investigations and proceedures and that the RIAA was conducting the proceedings in such a way as to maximize their chance of getting "settlement money" instead of going to trial. Nothing short of outright fraud just to scare people and get them to roll over. Some may be guilty, some may be not guilty, others, computer illiterates, clueless.
Up until recently, when anyone started fighting back they'd back away and tried to minimize the situation in such a way that the incident would go away and stay under the radar. But that has now even fallen apart as people and the courts become more aware of what is REALLY going on.
Sending official-looking letters that contain demands for payment wrapped in legalese has done these folks more harm than good.
The Recording Industry Association of America is actually a private group of attorneys that represents the recording industry on retainer. The association does not have the authority to determine guilt nor innocence. It definately does not have the jurisdiction to demand settlement payments from defendants outside of the legal process.
Guilt or innocence is for a judge to decide. One is always innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. As attorneys, these folks should know better.
The Recording Industry Association of America is actually a private group of attorneys that represents the recording industry on retainer. The association does not have the authority to determine guilt nor innocence. It definately does not have the jurisdiction to demand settlement payments from defendants outside of the legal process.
Guilt or innocence is for a judge to decide. One is always innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. As attorneys, these folks should know better.
Bullying tactics, a lot of people will fold, but when one steps up to them they don't know what to do and as a result they get thrown back to the garbage can.