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316 Comments
- tsitneics, on 08/26/2008, -8/+327***** THE RIAA!
- dcharti, on 08/27/2008, -6/+169Either way it's tampering with evidence guys. You can't do that, period.
- glowfood, on 08/27/2008, -0/+116Just for that I'm making sure my seed ratio is 6.0
- sindex, on 08/27/2008, -2/+83It would be nice if the judge ordered him to pay $545.58; $12.99 per 42 CDs shared. That sounds reasonable.
Start paying the RIAA exactly what they're due, and they'll stop suing because there's no money in it. - lcmatt, on 08/26/2008, -5/+81He went to all that hassle wiping the HDD, wouldn't it have been easier to buy a new drive and bin the other? Then when The RIAA's "forensics experts" had a look nothing would be on it other than a default OS install.
- Shaman760, on 08/27/2008, -2/+74As a recording musician, I am ashamed and appalled at the actions of the RIAA.
Were these settlements of any benefit to the artists that get "ripped off", I'd somewhat support them. But again, as always the higher-level executives are looking to fund yet another home in the Maldives off the backs of artists.
***** THE RIAA - jester55, on 08/27/2008, -2/+68"But judge my computer NEVER had a hard drive!"
- pigfister, on 08/27/2008, -0/+56boycott the fukers:
The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!
The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX. - TheGreatTK, on 08/27/2008, -2/+54A textbook example of doing it wrong. He could have bought a new hard drive, and then insisted to the RIAA idiots that he bought it before he was sued. File access times are not hard to falisfy.
Not that i actually recommend doing something like this in order to weasel your way out of a ***** lawsuit or anything.. ;) - dlightle, on 08/27/2008, -3/+44Whoa, so the KaZaA logs were there after he reformatted AND used a file-wiping program? I knew some of those P2P were pesky programs, but sheesh.
- SOS84, on 08/27/2008, -6/+47So basically the RIAA no longer needs evidence, even bad evidence, to win a judgment? Yes this fool should be cited for tampering or destruction of evidence but in no way should the RIAA be handed a default judgment. Right or wrong, this sets a really bad precidence.
- smotpoker, on 08/26/2008, -1/+41Forgive my ignorance of Windows OS, but don't most system files maintain the timestamps that were on the install cd? I would check but I do not own a windows system...
Anyway, even if that is not the case the pre-installed hd he bought could have been installed months or years earlier. Also, mtimes/ctimes/atimes can be manipulated if you know how.. the easiest way in this case I think would be to just roll back the bios clock before installing - CoolHandLuke, on 08/27/2008, -0/+38That's why you just dump the computer in a local body of water and call it stolen.
- Rhendal, on 08/27/2008, -1/+39RIAA tells man that he can't share songs he has on his hard drive because it's illegal.
Man gets rid of songs he has on his hard drive.
RIAA tells man that he wasn't supposed to get rid of songs he has on his hard drive now.
What a bunch of *****. - TheUKDigger, on 08/26/2008, -3/+40The forensics experts would probably notice the time stamps on the windows install and conclude he either destroyed the evidence on the HDD or bought a new one.
- 0tis, on 08/27/2008, -0/+34As Jeffery Howell's hard drive, I think I used to be ashamed and appalled at the actions of the RIAA, but I can't remember anything these days.
***** THE RIAA... ? - inactive, on 08/27/2008, -2/+35"Howell uninstalled KaZaA and deleted everything in the shared folder, reformatted his hard drive, downloaded and used a file-wiping program, and then nuked all the KaZaA logs on his PC."
Why didn't he just take the ***** hard drive and chuck it into a ravine somewhere? Tell them it burned out and was trashed between the time he was busted and the letter was sent. - UberNick, on 08/27/2008, -1/+31umm... ravines have water
- Aerandir, on 08/27/2008, -2/+27As a Pirate, I am ashamed and appalled at the actions of the RIAA.
***** THE RIAA. - IveGotTheRuns, on 08/27/2008, -0/+25"Jeffery Howell, the defendant who represented himself throughout the case..."
It never seems to end well when you represent yourself. - ROBINEW, on 08/27/2008, -2/+27Step 5) Now your friend has a stolen computer.
- MrFurious2k, on 08/27/2008, -2/+26Don't worry, some judges believe you have to save everything that ever gets logged in RAM or you're doing something illegal.
- LemonDeception, on 08/27/2008, -0/+24Am I reading this right, that he only had 42 songs? Was he really the best person to go after?
- wezman2, on 08/27/2008, -0/+23How much do you think they are spending on lawyers? Spending money on trying to fix it or otherwise get information out of it would be a piss in the ocean. You better believe they would try.
- ArmandoM, on 08/27/2008, -0/+23I'm really looking forward to the first case where someone has an encrypted drive that's been encrypted long before the suit, and then forgets the password or loses the keyfile...
- twiztidsinz, on 08/27/2008, -0/+22What he shoulda done was do some unsafe browsing, get a virus then take it to BestBuy.. Let them wipe the HD while backing up the data (read: making shortcuts).
Two birds with one stone. - Yookji, on 08/27/2008, -0/+21Apparently, he could have won the case if he had hired a lawyer. Unfortunately, his financial resources were limited while the RIAA hired a full legal and forensics team.
- digitalpencil, on 08/27/2008, -4/+25Step 1) Give computer to friend
Step 2) Leave window open
Step 3) Call police
Step 4) Tell them your computer has been stolen
and...... you're home running free! - homercles337, on 08/27/2008, -4/+24System errors due to a trojan sent by Kazaa forced a wipe of Kaza and later a corrupted system32 directory forced a format/reinstall of the OS. Thats the proper order. This kid was just stupid as to how to do it right.
- BobSutan, on 08/27/2008, -0/+19As opposed to, "My hard drive died so I got a new one. What of it?"
- MrFurious2k, on 08/27/2008, -0/+18Time stamp tampering isn't all that difficult to detect. The fact is, he destroyed evidence and that's what killed him. Unfortunately, he'd have been better off fighting the RIAA with the presumption of innocence rather than destroying evidence and then arguing his actions were justified. It shifts the whole case a new direction.
- SpeedSteamBoat, on 08/27/2008, -3/+20Either way he is innocent until proven guilty.
The reformatting of a hard-drive and even the nuking of it is wholly circumstantial and in no way constitutes guilt.
Further more, "tampering with evidence" would require him to have destroyed the files for the explicit purpose of covering up a CRIME that you've already proved to have been committed. You can't say, "He acted pretty suspicious. So much so that he MUST be guilty."
After all, it's pretty understandable that a letter in the mail saying "We are coming after you for KaZaA." would prompt you uninstall that software and goes God knows how much further.
This is why when people commit real crimes the police show up with a warrant and confiscate evidence on the spot. They don't send you a letter saying "Ohhh, we are SO coming to get you!" for a laundry list of reasons one being that even innocent people can do stupid things out of fear.
There is little doubt in my mind that had he been able to afford a proper lawyer who would have explained all of this the story would have a very different ending.
After all, didn't the White House get away with "losing" hundreds of e-mails after "accidentally" WIPING DOZENS OF HARD-DISKS. They best be glad they didn't get this dim-witted judge. They'd all be in prison since clearly destroying the disks means they were packed with incriminating e-mails which we can now pretend to have in our hands, right? (And believe me, I'm not sticking up for the administration here, just pointing out the obvious injustice and inconsistency) - Diggnabbit, on 08/27/2008, -0/+16You ARE, of course, allowed to reformat your hard drive, or burn it, or sell it, or take your file cabinet full of personal records and sink it in the bottom of the ocean, normally. But you can't do that once someone has started to sue you and it's evidence.
- andycr512, on 08/27/2008, -0/+15And either way, timestamps aren't reliable. I don't know the appropriate command on Windows, but the 'touch' command on *nix can modify them easily.
Not that I don't think this guy did exactly what it seems he did. - tidu, on 08/27/2008, -1/+16It its Kazaa then its probably single files. so $42...
But I don't think your analogy works. I agree that the hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines is ridiculous, but if you shoplift from a store (I know it's not EXACTLY the same) and you're caught, your punishment is much more than just paying for what you took. - BlackJackJester, on 08/27/2008, -1/+16Just back up everything you want, then go trolling for free porn - download as many virus's as possible until your computer ***** a brick, and then it's not your fault nothing works anymore.
- schwab002, on 08/27/2008, -1/+16an easier and more comprehensive way to boycott the riaa:
http://www.riaaradar.com/
ps nice name, pigfister - MaynardJK, on 08/27/2008, -0/+14Are you ***** retarded? Every hour that is spent on this case is an hour that could be spent on another case with some merit.
- thegrizz51, on 08/27/2008, -2/+16I'm no lawyer (although I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once), but it seems to me that the steps he took to "cover his tracks" could have been explained as he was ensuring that he was no longer violating the law. He removed the files so they couldn't be shared. He uninstalled Kazaa thus disabling P2P sharing. He wiped his hard drive to protect his privacy in case his computer was stolen or accessed later. He reinstalled Windows because...well, Windows sucks and needs to be reinstalled frequently. Basically, he just wanted to be certain that he wouldn't be violating the law by inadvertently sharing files.
I got a DMCA notice from my ISP that I was sharing a copyrighted video (oops). So the fact that I stopped sharing the video and deleted from my hard drive is destroying evidence?! The letter TOLD ME to stop sharing, so I did.
I bet if the RIAA and MPAA spent the money they are wasting on litigation to develop a fair and legal service to distribute their products, the world would be a much better place. Instead, they'd rather spend millions of dollars suing a guy for sharing 42 songs! Even if they get $100,000 from this guy, I bet it won't cover the cost of the lawsuit and forensic experts.
I guess this is the new law of supply and demand. When the demand for your product goes down, don't bother increasing the quality or decreasing the price of your product, just sue the ***** out of everyone instead!
Sorry...I was starting to rant there! Bottom line, ***** the RIAA!!!! - RadicalEdward, on 08/27/2008, -0/+14Yes because the case would have gone sooo much better if they found child porn being served on it.
- o0joshua0o, on 08/27/2008, -0/+13"Just change the system date to a year earlier before you install the OS."
Or have a spare hard drive lying around with the OS already installed on it. Then swap it out when you need to. - TheMachine1, on 08/27/2008, -0/+13I guess he could have done a lot things different but in all cases you need plausible deny ability. I doubt there is any possible jury without a member in the US that has not been a victim of spyware. Spyware alone could explain P2P downloads on any particular computer.
- br0ck, on 08/27/2008, -2/+15You'd have to 'tamper with evidence' to comply to the RIAA letter. The letter says to stop sharing files and if you comply that means you're uninstalling Kazaa, moving the files or deleting the files all of which could be considered tampering because they could say that 'he was trying to hide the fact that he was sharing'. This guy went a little far with the HD wipe, but giving the RIAA the ammo of 'well he deleted files' as proof that someone's guilty seems like a dangerous precedent.
- davdev, on 08/27/2008, -0/+12Chucking it in a Ravine would make it pretty hard to find though.
- castletech, on 08/27/2008, -0/+12I have not and will not purchase anything belonging to or concerning the RIAA since metallica started the ***** with Napster. If they want my money well... they can't have it. Too late, ***** off.
- hokie47, on 08/27/2008, -0/+12It's a civil case not a criminal case.
- aleishman, on 08/27/2008, -3/+14He should have surrendered the computer without a drive and claim it had a drive when he gave it to them.
- aceisstupid, on 08/27/2008, -4/+15The Sandra Day O'Connor U. S. District Court
Address:
Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse
401 W. Washington Street, Suite 130, SPC 1
Phoenix, AZ 85003-2118
Phone: 602-322-7200
Judge Neil Wake:
602-322-7640
PLEASE BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL with your comments and queries, this is a US District Court, act accordingly. - eggsovereasy, on 08/27/2008, -0/+11Anyone who represents himself has a fool for a client.
- winst0n13, on 08/27/2008, -0/+10Troll troll is troll
-
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