What is Digg?126 Comments
- h3xZ, on 10/11/2007, -4/+109***** THE RIAA!
- dadothree, on 10/11/2007, -0/+96The recording industry's expert finally confirmed that Andersen's computer had not been used to download music, but attorneys still demanded that she pay money before they would drop the case. "They wanted it to appear publicly that they prevailed," the suit claims. "When Ms. Andersen declined to pay them, defendants stepped up their intimidation." Insane. And it was her 10 year old daughter.
- jcaino, on 10/11/2007, -0/+80how can impersonating the kid's grandmother NOT bring them into some kind of legal trouble? pricks.
- bairy, on 10/11/2007, -2/+73The site had me fill in a "how old are you, where are you" form before it would let me see Part 2, so f*ck em, both pages below:
A disabled single mother from Beaverton has filed a federal lawsuit against the Recording Industry Association of America, claiming that she is the victim of abusive legal tactics, threats and illegal spying as part of an overzealous campaign to crack down on music pirating.
The recording industry sued Tanya J. Andersen, 44, in 2005, accusing her of violating copyright laws by illegally downloading music onto her computer. Andersen claims in a suit she filed last week in U.S. District Court in Oregon that the recording industry refused to drop its case after its own expert supported her claims of innocence.
Instead, industry officials threatened to interrogate Andersen's 10-year-old daughter, Kylee, if she didn't pay thousands of dollars. The intimidation included attempts to contact Kylee directly. A woman claiming to be Kylee's grandmother called the girl's former elementary school inquiring about her attendance, according to Andersen's suit.
The recording industry dropped its lawsuit June 1.
Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the recording industry association, said he respectfully declined to comment on the specifics of Andersen's case.
But Lamy defended the recording industry's overall strategy to combat illegal file-sharing, which he said has stolen billions in revenues in the past few years. After taking on the Internet businesses that made it easy to copy music for free and mounting an education campaign, the industry was still losing lots of money, Lamy said.
"Despite all these efforts, there was still not a sense of risk by the individual person downloading music online," he said.
So the industry started taking legal action against individual computer users it accuses of illegally downloading music -- 21,000 people since 2003.
Tanya Andersen was one of those people.
She said she received a letter in 2005 from a Los Angeles law firm accusing her of illegally downloading music. As directed, she called the Settlement Support Center, which Andersen's suit called the "debt-collection arm" of the recording industry's campaign.
Page 2 of 2
Andersen said she had never illegally downloaded music but was told she had to pay $4,000 to $5,000 or she would be ruined financially.
An employee said he believed she was innocent, according to the suit.
"He explained, however, that defendants would not quit their attempts to force payment from her because to do so would encourage other people to defend themselves," the suit says.
Andersen offered to have her computer inspected. Instead, the recording industry sued her.
The record industry claimed that she used a certain Internet name to illegally download music at 4:20 a.m. on May 20, 2004. Andersen searched the Internet for the name and easily learned that it belonged to a young man in Everett, Wash., who admitted on his MySpace account that he illegally downloaded music.
Andersen provided the information to the record industry, but officials responded by publicly accusing her of downloading a series of violent, profane, obscene and misogynistic songs. Andersen was an avid user of mail order CD clubs, so "defendants knew that Ms. Andersen listens to only country music and soft rock," the suit says.
The recording industry's expert finally confirmed that Andersen's computer had not been used to download music, but attorneys still demanded that she pay money before they would drop the case.
"They wanted it to appear publicly that they prevailed," the suit claims. "When Ms. Andersen declined to pay them, defendants stepped up their intimidation."
Two years after filing the lawsuit, the recording industry agreed to drop the case only if Andersen dropped her counter charges.
"They also emphasized that that if she did not abandon her legal rights, they would continue to persecute her and her young daughter, and again demanded to interrogate and confront her little girl," the suit says.
Andersen finally filed a motion forcing the recording industry to provide proof that she illegally downloaded music. Hours before the deadline to respond, the recording industry dropped its case.
Andersen continues to seek to recover her legal costs from the recording companies that sued her, according to her Washington-based attorney, Lory R. Lybeck.
Andersen filed a new suit in U.S. District Court in Oregon last week seeking additional damages from the Recording Industry Association of America, a trade group for recording industry companies that controls 90 percent of the music sold in the United States; the Settlement Support Center; and MediaSentry, a private investigation company that assists the recording industry..
Ashbel "Tony" Green: 503-221-8202; tonygreen@news.oregonian.com
--- And friggin hell digg, make this insanely small textarea a size where it's actually usable. - SilverBlade2k, on 10/11/2007, -0/+44I thought it was illegal to do anything to a person under legal age. I guess the RIAA is above the law....
- cr125er, on 10/11/2007, -0/+33New rule: Time to replace Paris Hilton stories (non-*****-issue) with stories of all the ***** going on with out-of-touch ***** being in control of the entertainment industry and the policies and actions associated with it.
- silverangel08, on 10/11/2007, -0/+32I'm ashamed that I even want to be a part of the music business now. Even after providing the RIAA with the information of who actually had pirated music, they wouldn't back off and just harassed her more. Isn't that what the mafia does?
- Pinhedd, on 10/11/2007, -0/+32I believe we have a legal term for this, extortion
- NikoKun, on 10/11/2007, -0/+31Are you kidding me? What freaking *****...
We admit you were not downloading music... but we're still gonna try and get money out of you to make it look like we won... WTF? Insane...
Well now that this situation is public, maybe they'll leave her and her kid the ***** alone... stupid parasites...
The mother should sue them for this... harassment... The RIAA doesn't have the right to harass people for money to make them look "they prevailed"... They've already failed at that because this article is public... now they just look like *****... -_- - UtahApocalyse, on 10/11/2007, -0/+31I hope this lady sues for MILLIONS. The RIAA needs to learn where to draw the line.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+27These so called lawyers for the RIAA are a bunch of bottom feeding scum suckers. They are so worried that they might actually lose a case and then the intimidation of others, they just wont let go. I think someone should setup a legal defense fund and take donations for this lady to fight back. This RIAA crap has gone way too far.
- RocckLobster, on 10/11/2007, -0/+25Is my 14-year-old daughter next? She uses Limewire......oh *****, does the RIAA read digg.com? Erase, erase, erase!!!!!
- codyman, on 10/11/2007, -0/+22See the problem is that this 10 year old probably knows more about computers / internet technology than every person involved in the RIAA combined.... that is why they are scared about filesharing
- dotlizard, on 10/11/2007, -0/+21actually this is much worse than organized crime. it's a lot closer to hostage-taking, ransom-demanding, violent, militant type activities. you know, like ... terrorism.
there i said it. - Gadren, on 10/11/2007, -0/+21Every time the RIAA does something like this, I just feel the need to pirate one more song.
- hellotyler, on 10/11/2007, -4/+22If anyone ever tries to pull this ***** on me, I will literally hunt them down and beat them until they are unrecognizable then happily do the 5 years in jail. I hope your permanently disfigured face was worth it.
- profOblivion, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17She IS suing them. http://digg.com/tech_news/Exonerated_defendant_sues_RIAA_for_malicious_prosecution
- Theipolicy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16This makes me want to download music, illegally. If they only asked nicely, I think that most people might reconsider. Hell, I download a CD and then BUY it if I like it. Some ***** samples on AOL doesn't make me want to go get a CD, and bullies in the office make me want to piss them off even more, greedy bastards.
I'll wait for the artists themselves to ask the downloaders for money, hell, FOX can turn it into a reality TV show. - merreborn, on 10/11/2007, -1/+17"The site had me fill in a "how old are you, where are you" form"
I took the opportunity to tell them I was a 106 year old woman from San Francisco, personally. - dotlizard, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16ok this is getting seriously twilight zone here. 'we admit you didn't do anything wrong, and that our lawsuit has no basis, now give us some money or the kid gets it.'
in technical legal terminology, i believe this is referred to as "***** insane". - Judicata, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14Depending on how accurate these facts are, the RIAA and its lawyers should face some liability for this. First, there are sanctions under "Rule 11" (or equivalent) for frivolous suits - if they pursued a lawsuit just to make their client look good, despite knowing it was merit-less, the lawyers themselves could face sanctions (fines, suspension, disbarment), and have to pay for attorney's fees and costs. Also, for harassing the daughter there is probably Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, and liability under whatever harassment statutes the state provides.
The RIAA lawyers should be disbarred. - unknownpoltroon, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15This makes me so mad I'm just gonna boycott......Wait, i haven't bought ***** from these guys since 99 when all this started. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
- lcohiomatty86, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13This kind of tactic, is pretty much what any CRIME ORGANIZATION would use. "well ya.. we know your innocent.. but still pay up.. or were gonna screw you over good"
- Judicata, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13"millions of death"
"Gestapo" has been used for quite some time to describe harsh and/or abusive tactics undertaken to coerce or extort. Are you saying the term should never be used? If "gestapo tactics" was only allowed to be used to describe death and vileness rising to the level of the Nazism, then we would only use it to describe Nazis. The use if far from being "completly" ignorant. Loosen up. - edd0c, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11Just reading this is infuriating. So they invade your privacy, accuse you of a crime, fail to do the ten minutes of research she so easily did, and threaten you with scare tactics. As if anyone needed another reason to detest this organization. Being an entity whose business model is outdated by 20 years apparently leads to acts of appalling desperation.
- kent1146, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11Extortion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person either obtains money, property or services from another through coercion or intimidation or threatens one with physical or reputational harm unless they are paid money or property. Making a threat of violence or a lawsuit which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or property to halt future violence or lawsuit is sufficient to commit the offense. The four simple words "pay up or else" are sufficient to constitute the crime of extortion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion - LeeSoong, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11Misrepresentation?
Deception?
Fraud?
Endangering a Minor?
Somehow lying to a school official - a government employee - that has got to be illegal,
not to mention pretending you are someone else while conducting business
(accept for actors, of course). - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+12 1. The German internal security police as organized under the Nazi regime, known for its terrorist methods directed against those suspected of treason or questionable loyalty.
2. gestapo pl. -pos. A police organization that employs terroristic methods to control a populace. - thegreathal, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10Are you sure these aren't tactics from someone less experienced...say the KGB? Keystone cops?
"Andersen offered to have her computer inspected. Instead, the recording industry sued her.
The record industry claimed that she used a certain Internet name to illegally download music at 4:20 a.m. on May 20, 2004. Andersen searched the Internet for the name and easily learned that it belonged to a young man in Everett, Wash., who admitted on his MySpace account that he illegally downloaded music.
Andersen provided the information to the record industry, but officials responded by publicly accusing her of downloading a series of violent, profane, obscene and misogynistic songs. Andersen was an avid user of mail order CD clubs, so "defendants knew that Ms. Andersen listens to only country music and soft rock," the suit says. " - pplude92, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9That's why I release my music under Creative Commons. Skip the record labels and liscencers! Keep our music, we wrote/performed it!
- cquilliam, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9I'm pretty sure it's illegal for someone to try to gain access to a minor by impersonating a trusted figure.
- Matri, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9Think about this: They pretended to be a close family member in order to reach a 10-year-old girl.
I dunno about you, but that sounds suspiciously like what pedophiles do too. - RlAA, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9And I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids and that internet >:[
- Kyrgizion, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9Grats for obviously reading the article...
/sarcasm - Nocterminus, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8I just clicked on; "Outside The US? Click Here" and clicked through the next page and got page 2 without entering any details.
- MicrosoftBob, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10I dugg you up because this particular meme is always warranted.
- oyourmom, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Identity theft is a HUGE issue! Millions of Americans suffer from it Jim!
- mrand01, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9dugg because you said *****
- Litespeed, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7What is this "law" that you speak of?
- Pinhedd, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8Just for this I'm going to download the entire Pantera Discography. Best part about it: they cant do ***** to me.
- Skooma714, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8THIS IS THE GAZPACHO! LIGHTY CHILL!
- ben_nushmut, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7I agree. Not that I'm a fan of the sue-happy culture we have here in the US, but this is a lawsuit I could get behind. Take 'em down!
- sparrowkc, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8Resizeable form fields firefox plugin: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3694
- tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6If you're not a fan of lawsuits, go after the RIAA. They have so many frivolous lawsuits it's insane!
- aRgusChung, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Actually if you click the "Print" link you get the whole article without the form. This also works well on those stupid multi-page TOP 100 lists etc.
- pplude92, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5wow...damn, that's the RIAA to the "T"
- sabach, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Stay hard, it's the artists who need to lead the way on this.
- tech42er, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Yup. This case actually reminds me of a great Steven King short story, "Quitters, Inc." where the mafia (or a mafia-like organization) get into the business of helping people quit smoking, particularly where they spy on him and go after his son. Now I they're in the recording business!
- Zeppelin68, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5wtf is wrong with people. The RIAA should change or get shut down. What a bunch of scumbags.
- pplude92, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Uh, a retarded monkey has more brainpower than the RIAA
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