RSSUniversity of Oregon takes a stand against RIAA
By Ed Oswald | Published November 30, 2007, 1:09 PM
In a rare rebuke of the RIAA, a school where several of its students are being sued by the recording industry body has come to their aid, saying the tactics used may have been illegal.
17 students at the University of Oregon are being sued for piracy. However, in a court filing the school accused RIAA of using an investigation firm -- MediaSentry -- that does not have proper licensing in the state.
Oregon's attorney general, Hardy Myers, has also stepped in, calling for an immediate investigation into how the group obtained data on the students. Myers said that while it is not being argued that piracy isn't illegal, at issue is how RIAA has conducted itself.
Among other things, Myers said the investigation does not say how the files were obtained, nor if any infringing activity ever took place. Also, he accused the group of abusing the judicial process for its own personal gain.
"While the University is not a party to the case, Plaintiffs' subpoena affects the university's rights and obligations," Myers said in the court filing. "Plaintiffs may be spying on students who use the University's computer system and may be accessing much more than IP addresses."
The University of Oregon suits are part of a larger effort by RIAA to go after students on college campuses, which began in earnest this past February. Anti-piracy groups argue that a majority of music copyright infringement among young adults is occurring here, and have called on schools to reign in their students.
Oregon's challenge to the RIAA's methods is the first of its kind since the effort began. It is likely to embolden other schools who may take issue with the group's strong-arm tactics to also challenge it in court.
Protect yourself by knowing the law and your rights. Never waive your rights. If you want avoid this outright, do not violate the law...
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thing is this is why the RIAA MPAA usises firms like MediaSentry, to insulate them from the civil lawsuits that secured from violation of the civil rights of the individuals they have unjustly hacked their way into their files and port scanned their networks and packet sniffed out their traffic content... all of which is a violation of civil right to be secure in your persons and private papers.
Sure the Government has the patriot act, yep and its illegal too, but they don't give a s***. I dare the MPAA RIAA to dare claim this is within their rights to do with the patriot act. Cause at that point they are ascertaining that all P2P users are terrorists and as such MUST be tried in Federal courts, not civil, and guilty verdicts result in DEATH, or life in prison. Which will make their burden of proof so high they will never get another conviction with their lack of evidence they so commonly have in these cases. Indeed all they need say is it was there at some point and a bit or two could be retrieved from it... Not that the entire file or how many times it was downloaded if EVER from that source.
Basically they can go in with ANYONE in the world with a printed piece of paper claiming that it is a packet sniff of what was on your network and back trace it to an IP that was registered to someone and that someone is screwed. Nothing they can say or do will change their minds short of extortion payout. and thus far no judge has the competence see that as yet.
Yes there is illegal activity out there, yes there is solutions that teh MPAA RIAA is unwilling to turn too to make this activity legal. Why? because for now this makes them more money, and they like to intimidate the public into an aging and defunct market of CDs and DVDs, and TV CABLE channels Nieson ratings.
But with the WGA strike, (everyone of which is about to be permanently unemployed very soon.) For the most part Television has no choice but to evolve into a royalty system for internet streaming. That is where television will be in a few months as it is. If not by the studios, then by independents that will be providing NEW and desirable content, unlike networks with their reality programing bonanza.
Hulu was a first step in this for a broadcast network, but it may have come too late. Other venues have their own series now, that are only available online. That may well be where it is all going. I think so at least.
Where this goes so too will Radio to follow suit royalty wise.
Internet P2P and streaming will become a broadcast medium just like the AM/FM UHF/VHF/Digital bands are now. And will get money in a similar way. Royalties from broadband subscriber ISPs. A staggering number to say the least in profits. in turn all this nonsense suddenly become legal. Its already millions strong folks. a good 30% of the world at least uses it. Its time to evolve this aspect and embrace it for what it is. a broadcast medium.
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Why not setup a ANTI-RIAA/MPAA fund and hire some lawyers. Good thing I am not really into music but still I think this is unfair and until someone stands up to them we the "little guys" will be trembled upon.
I wonder how much RIAA made last year.
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support www.eff.org they fight the RIAA-MPAA
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Lawyers are the most two faced people you will ever meet!! Lets face it for what they do and the prices they are paid society could very easily replace lawyers with a more productive and fair system but they wont because just like the RIAA/MPAA they have too many connections with politicians. AGAIN A VERY UNFAIR SOCIETY.
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WhoTFCares?
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Those Ducks will get fried by the RIAA.. The MPAA/RIAA owns most politicians.. We all know how fair the courts are to the average person that can not invest in Law makers..
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Well if the RIAA can sue for 50 times the value of a CD ($750) for each incident, I hope the University does that same. Figure out what the RIAA is asking of all the lawsuits statewide, then multiply it by 50.
Of course, they should also accept an out of court settlement of a mere 1/10th of that just to show they are an understanding and caring entity.
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Hahaha. Can't put it any better. Great post!
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A out of court settlement do no damage to RIAA/MPAA, they can just turn around and sue more people for the money. You and me can receive their letter any time, and we can do nothing about it. Too poor to fight back. It's cheaper to pay them a few grand then hire a lawyer to fight them.
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In all honesty, the university would, most likely, turn down any settlement offers and push for a trial (even if the RIAA dropped their subpoenas).
It's the only way for them to make an effective stand and (hopefully) prevent this type of action from happening again in the future.
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Finally! Someone is standing up to these SOB's! The RIAA simply must be stopped. They are a cancer on this planet that must be eradicated. They use strong arm Gestapo type tactics to intimidate and manipulate. They are disgusting. They make me SICK. I want to puke my brains out every time I think of how they treat people. Please do what ever you can to support those with the courage and GUTS to stand up to these evil people in court. They must be fought with every ounce of strength in the courts until they are defeated. They should be put in prison, if you ask me.
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I'm really curious to see how the RIAA responds to this news from the University of Oregon. Will the RIAA just leave them alone, or is a long, drawn out legal battle going to begin?
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"Also, he accused the group of abusing the judicial process for its own personal gain."
Don't flatter our judicial system. It exists for the personal gain of lawyers.
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And lawyers exist for the personal gain of its clients, the people. So what's your point?
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ROFLMAO!
Yeah...right. Their clients.
...too funny.
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uh, who pays the lawyers? Without clients lawyers wouldn't exist.
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HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Didn't you that in any law suit only the lawyers truly come out ahead. They get paid whether they win or not....
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Naive. Did you know that the USA has around 5% of the world's population, but has around 30% of its lawyers?
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what's the matter, are you jealous that lawyers make more money than you'll ever see? We earn our fees. Until you can handle what we do, try not to exaggerate things:)
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Really? You must read all the headlines when a lawyer wins and loses, huh? Tell me something, why would someone keep paying a lawyer if he/she kept losing their case? They wouldn't, so just as in any other job, we only get paid when we win.
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You earn your fees?
Last dealings I had with a lawyer, he was trying to get power of attorney away from me over my late mother in order to take 3 months to drain her savings down to medicaid level.
A 5 min. phone call cost me 1500.00.
I ended up taking him to court to stop him from ruining someones life. I won. He lost. I still had to pay him for time spent. 5500.00. One hour and a phone call. You earn your fees alright.
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I am sorry but ANYONE who thinks lawyers are worthy of ANY respect or admiration needs to have their head examined. Lawers are universially thought of as the scum of the earth for a very good reason: because they earn that reputation though their actions. Lawyers are among the least respected people on the planet because of the way they behave and the way they choose to conduct themselves. They are greedy, self-absorbed and pompus at best. They aren't about justice or morality...they never have been. They are all about doing whatever they can to line their own pockets with as much money as possible, as fast as they can, without actually ending up in prison themselves.
Lawyers are largely thought of as only being a very small step above law enforcement, and trust me, that ain't saying much. If lawers want to improve their reputations and standing in society then they need to take a good, long, hard look at what they do and how they do it. Until lawers finally wake up and realize that if you go though life feeding off everyone around you like a blood sucking leach (which everyone hates and resents), their standing in society will never improve.
Lawyers like to think that they are part of the solution when in reality, they are one of the biggest parts of the problem in our society today. They don't help fix our flawed legal system, they further facilitate the abuse and corruption of it though greed, scare tactics, intimidation and manipulation.
Remeber folks, it is the LAWYERS that gave us this cancer that is the RIAA/MPAA today. That's who you have to thank for this mess.
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