RIAA lawsuits yield mixed results

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RIAA sues for a whooping 9 songs

ACLU Vs. RIAA:
When the RIAA sues you for downloading a whopping 9 songs?who you gonna call? Apparently the ACLU like this guy did. Nice to see another huge entity such as the ACLU take the RIAA to court and make them spend as much money as humanly possible to recover damages for 9 songs.


The ACLU's interest stems from what it perceives as a violation of the unnamed student's Constitutional rights to privacy and anonymous use of the Internet. By requesting the student's name and contact information before proving any legal wrongdoing, the RIAA is violating the student's rights, Fine said.





ACLU Represents Student in Download Case
Tue Dec 2,11:29 AM ET


CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) is now representing a University of North Carolina student who's entangled in a fight about downloading music.



The Recording Industry of America issued a subpoena in October for the student, whose identity is undisclosed, charging that the student used a UNC computer connection to make nine copyrighted songs available for download on the Internet.


Last week, the ACLU filed a motion in federal district court in Greensboro on the student's behalf to quash the RIAA (news - web sites)'s subpoena, which seeks the student's personal information.


Attorneys from the ACLU's national office in Washington, D.C., and the local chapter in North Carolina are handling the case, said Aden Fine, the national office's staff attorney.


The ACLU's interest stems from what it perceives as a violation of the unnamed student's Constitutional rights to privacy and anonymous use of the Internet. By requesting the student's name and contact information before proving any legal wrongdoing, the RIAA is violating the student's rights, Fine said.


"We don't support copyright infringement in any manner," he said. "Our motion is about due process rights. The Constitution and the First Amendment protects the right to engage in anonymous speech and that includes anonymous speech on the Internet."


Though it hasn't yet been determined whether the law has been violated, the student's access to the university's computer system has been blocked.


That means the student can't log in to the university's computer system from a personal computer. He or she may still use the Internet or e-mail from public computer terminals on campus.


Suspending the student's computer access is standard procedure, said David Parker, a UNC attorney. Generally, a student notified of a potential violation like this can regain access to the university computer system by filling out what is known as a "counter notice" form, which is essentially a response to the charge.


The student has not done so in this case because he or she didn't want his identity revealed, Parker said.

Posted by: cybershoplifter   Posted on: 12/04/03 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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