Andersen attorney on RIAA suit: “They can’t run now”: “
Andersen attorney on RIAA suit: ‘They can’t run now’
By Eric Bangeman | Published: March 13, 2008 – 11:00PM CT
Friday may mark a significant milestone in the RIAA’s legal campaign against file-sharing, as it is the deadline for exonerated RIAA defendant Tanya Andersen to refile her malicious prosecution lawsuit against the record labels. Soon afterwards, discovery will begin, and all sorts of unsavory details about the RIAA’s legal campaign against suspected file-sharers are likely to emerge.
Andersen is a single mother living in Oregon who was sued by the record labels in February 2005. She eventually filed a counterclaim against the RIAA, and when the labels voluntarily dismissed their case against her last June, she filed a malicious-prosecution lawsuit. In it, Andersen accuses the RIAA of fraud, racketeering, invasion of privacy, libel, slander, deceptive business practices, and violations of the Oregon state RICO Act.
Last month, a federal judge dismissed Andersen’s original complaint, saying that she had “not adequately stated claims for relief,” but gave her a one-month window to refile. Her attorney, Lory Lybeck, told Ars that he plans to file a new 80-page complaint tomorrow. “The focus of the amended complaint is essentially the sham litigation and abuse of the federal judiciary to operate this criminal enterprise that has harmed Tanya Andersen and thousands of other people,” Lybeck said.
With a new complaint, the case is certain to move forward into the discovery phase, as the judge has told both sides that she would not entertain any further motions to dismiss this case.”
Andersen attorney on RIAA suit: “They can’t run now”
Ars Technica has become one of my favorite feed as of late…
The situation has completely gotten out of control. The rhetoric war being waged by the entertainment industry is starting to border on insane and untenable. The box office numbers last year were smashing, piracy was up at the same time, and the industry is still blaming piracy for a loss of revenue (like in the previous years). Hmmm. Profit down, piracy goes up, and then profits go up. Yep. Solid logic argues piracy is causing profit loss…you bet.
On the net neutrality front, the MPAA is supporting Comcast. Now this is just plain stupid. Does anyone really think that when the large broadband providers finally get it together on the bandwidth front that the won’t screw legal providers of entertainment? If Comcast gets what it wants, they will be free to throttle any traffic they do not have a financial stake in. Hollywood will be looking to distribute large, even HD, content. Direct downloads use too much bandwidth and P2P applications seem to be the way to go. Ooops, Comcast also distributes media content already on its ‘On Demand’ services. I wonder what P2P applications they might be developing to distribute via the web? Probably not something they’ll give out for free for hollywood to implement and compete directly with Comcast’s business. Once again, the entertainment industry is showing that amazing foresight they’re so famous for….
The RIAA is possibly in trouble because the company they’ve hired is facing violations in NY for acting as a private investigator without a license, besides the ethical implications of figuring its okay to snag a few “dolphins” in their net. More info:here
The RIAA is so out of touch, they officially maintain that mp3’s are illegal:
here
Threat Level at wired has this to say about the suit as of today:
Canned pirate meat, its what’s for dinner
Stay alert, watch the government, and watch your neighbor…
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Piracy, RIAA, Andersen vs RIAA
