Another body blow for the RIAA in Michigan
by Rich Fiscus on August 6th, 2008
After winning their first ever jury verdict in a file sharing case last year you would expect the RIAA to be riding high on their success right now. But the reality is their victory against Jammie Thomas in Minnesota may be the last one they get in their campaign of lawsuits for P2P file sharing.
Specifically they have two basic problems. The first is the willingness of defendants to fight back. Rather than simply paying the RIAA whatever they ask for to settle, people are insisting on their day in court. As a result the government has started catching up to the RIAA’s tactics, and the more questions that get asked the worse the answers sound.
Perhaps the biggest Achilles heel that’s come to light is MediaSentry. The RIAA pays MediaSentry to provide information which can be used to get subpoenas and eventually identify defendants for lawsuits. The problem is nobody but MediaSentry and the RIAA knows exactly how this is done.
MediaSentry has so far managed to operate without any regulation or government oversight, while also not being required to divulge their investigatory techniques in court. That looks increasingly like it’s going to be changing. The latest assault is coming from Michigan Central University.
University attorneys are asking the state’s Department of Labor & Economic Growth to issue a Cease and Desist Order, requiring MediaSentry to become licensed private investigators before pursuing any further action in Michigan. You can be sure MediaSentry and the RIAA will fight the request, but that may not be a bad thing.
After all its hard to imagine anything more dangerous to the RIAA’s cases than forcing their agents into the bright light of due process.
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