AfterDawn: News

RIAA sued under organized crime legislation

A woman from New Jersey, Michele Scimeca, has decided to fight against a lawsuit filed against her by the RIAA and has countersued the organization. Scimeca accuses RIAA of violating United States' anti-racketeering legislation and claims that RIAA uses extortion as one of its main weapons against individual users.

The basis of the claims is the fact that RIAA's tactics include a settlement process that it offers to virtually every single P2P user it has sued or accused of illegal activity. And now Michele Scimeca claims that most of the people who have been sued, are simply overwhelmed by the idea of fighting a multi-billion dollar organization in court rooms, that they rather decide to settle the case, however weak the case is against them. "These types of scare tactics are not permissible and amount to extortion," Scimeca's attorney wrote in the documents filed to the New Jersey federal court.



Source: News.com

Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 18 Feb 2004 15:49

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• 10 comments

• Rodgers

  Go get'em Michele. It is apparent that their tactics are those of racketeers and I hope you can bury these extortionists.
  
  Best to All!
  Rodgers

  19.2.2004 03:45 #1

• Praetor

  OMG this is too funny .... way to go Michele! :D

  19.2.2004 05:42 #2

• GrayArea

  Thank you Michele!!
  
  Does anybody know, did any of the previous batches of defendants actually not settle and go to court? We need a test case to see if this ridiculous sham will actually hold up in a real court case. If it were the type of trial where the judge decides the outcome (no jury) it would probably just end up being a measure of how crooked the judge is. I'd love to see one of these cases tried in front of a jury.

  19.2.2004 07:06 #3

• pcshateme

  if it goes before a jury michelle will win- i just hope the jury isnt a bunch of old people who dont care or no anything about this- they should get 20 and 30 year olds in the jury box. I told you JUST ONE PERSON SHOULD TAKE A STAND. Good Luck Michelle ^_^ I hope you win, because if you do,not only will this be a great victory for P2P users- BUT SOMEONE SHOULD BRING UP ANTI-TRUST SUITS ON RIAA AS WELL SO THAT THEY WILL BE CRUSHED AND ALL THE BANDS (ESPECIALY INDIE) CAN ACTUAL MAKE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  thank you and good luck michelle
  
  stick it too those bastards

  19.2.2004 10:24 #4

• Ghostdog

  This should be interesting to follow. Does anyone remember what happened to that other woman who was going to fight these guys awhile back?

  20.2.2004 07:59 #5

• Toiletman

  You mean Jane Doe? I don't know..... *evil music*
  
  I'm glad Michele is teaching RIAA how to sue, because it would seem she is using legit, valid and sensible reasons, unlike the RIAA.
  
  Go Michele!!
  
  By the way, "United States' anti-racketeering legislation" I like the sound of that. It sounds like they're calling the RIAA a bunch of racketeerers :)

  20.2.2004 10:59 #6

• pcshateme

  well goto downhillbattle.org they explain that the RIAA functions like the mob

  20.2.2004 11:14 #7

• ingram091

  It was only a matter of time before the RIAA and the MPAA attempted to sue someone that actually KNOWS the LAW. Any law firm in the world would love to take this to trial. 9 chances out of 10 the RIAA will drop the case rather then risk setting a president of a loss. Then they would be limited from using strong arm tactics as they do today. IF EVERY person went to COURT over this issue the RIAA would be bankrupt. They can not afford to take all the cases to trial and they know it. So they threaten and settle. STOP IT YOU FOOLS! Learn the new market and deal with it. Everyone else is modifying and being quite successful. Only the Corrupt overbearing, and power hungry MPAA and RIAA are to blame for there losses. THEY CUT PRODUCTION, THEY SET PRICES TO HIGH FOR GARBAGE MUSIC, AND THEY SIGN LOUSY ARTISTS, INSTEAD OF GOOD ONES. Is it any wonder people do not listen to the radio any more, or buy CD music? As far as music I have not liked basically anything out of the industry for years. Certainly not an entire album of anything. Maybe a song or 2. But compared to what I bought as a kid... that is well over a 90% loss right there. And that is not because I download it, it is because it is crap, and I do not want it. What I do download I buy. 1 song at a time. VERY FEW. Then I make a best of CD and keep it forever. I do not trust a DRM or AAC file to work forever, as it will not. Someplace down the line the industry will step in and discover they can resell purchased music, as a listening right. So each time you play it, it will cost a few cents to unlock the DRM. It is on your machine yes, but it is not yours to listen too. That is already in the works. (This is just stupid. It is like pulling up in your car and your radio is playing, and you see someone next to you in the next car enjoying it. So you go over and knock on their window and say hey you liked that song so pay me for it…) So once you buy the music online transfer it to wav CDs ASAP, then they are really yours. You will not have to deal with them again for music you already purchased.
  
  As far as my television MPEGS... That is the same as a VCR in my opinion. Protected under BETAMAX for decades (a case the MPAA lost I might add) Not only that, I purchase the DVDs when they finally come out. (This takes forever in most cases, because studios do not like to release programs on DVD.) I would love for them accuse me of being a pirate because I download Smallville or Angel, or Buffy, or whatever. Hey I do not get the WB in my area so that is the only way to watch them. Besides, look at what I buy! I challenge them to say am not a legitimate user of their products. By the amount of DVDs in my house they would need a forklift to haul it all down to court. And to contrast that, if they compared the lousy MPEGS I download before I have the DVDs of the final product… Hey, if that is piracy then HAR HAR HAR and BLOW ME DOWN! All I want to do is time shift and location shift so I can watch it like the rest of the nation does, off TV. Since my Cable Company is the only one to choose from, and they do not offer and has said will never offer the WB. The internet is it.
  
  Ingram.

  20.2.2004 12:10 #8

• r4may

  Looks like someone else is also getting at the RIAA in another way :-
  
  RIAA to face MyDoom's music?
  http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-5162833.html

  22.2.2004 09:18 #9

• pcshateme

  haha serves the fuckers right- but it seems the hacker is a mac user sence hes trying to attack microsoft- oh wait- isnt it incompatible!!!! LOL

  22.2.2004 09:21 #10