Audio Wars: Return of the Listeners
We’ve been following the long slow march to the end of the road by the big entertainment music companies, with the RIAA at the head of the parade into the abyss. It’s interesting to occasionally see someone win a victory against these behemoths, like Tanya Andersen has. Ms. Andersen is a 45-year-old single mother, and according to BusinessWeek has decided to take on the entire recording industry.
Her particular case wasn’t much different from the other thousands of lawsuits that the record labels file on their customers every year, other than the fact that she decided not to settle, and that she at the conclusion of her trial decided to sue the record labels right back.
Her lawsuit against the RIAA aims to punish them for their plethora of shady practices, including their illegal snooping on Internet users’ computers, and high pressure threats, like the one she recieved:
In Andersen’s case, the industry’s Settlement Support Center said that unless she paid $4,000 to $5,000 immediately, it would “ruin her financially,” the suit alleges.
It certainly helps her case that, according to the court findings and her personal claims of innocence, Ms. Andersen didn’t actually share out any files. That she’s a single mother trying to make a living for her and her 8-year-old daughter certainly with the sympathy factor of the courts (and public opinion).
We can only hope that her efforts are successful, and this reign of terror from the RIAA will finally come to an end.
Andersen is now taking the record industry to court. Her case is aimed at exposing investigative practices that are controversial and may be illegal, according to the lawsuit. One company hired by the record industry, she claims, snoops through people’s computers, uncovering private files and photos, even though it has no legal right to do so. A different industry-backed company uses tactics similar to those of debt collectors, pressuring people to pay thousands of dollars in settlements even before any wrongdoing is proven. In Andersen’s case, the industry’s Settlement Support Center said that unless she paid $4,000 to $5,000 immediately, it would “ruin her financially,” the suit alleges.
Now here’s something we love to see: Tanya Andersen, a 45-year-old single mother, is taking on the RIAA for their sleazy tactics and appears to be winning. After being sued for piracy and having the case dismissed, she decided to go ahead and sue the RIAA for conspiracy. She argues that the way the RIAA snoops around looking for people to sue is in violation of the law, as is the way they try to extort settlements out of people without going to trial. BusinessWeek has a whole profile of Andersen and her battle against the RIAA, and it’s well worth the read. Go check it out; it’s not like you’ve got other stuff to do. [ via CrunchGear]
© Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins for Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog, 2008. |
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