RIAA member settles suit after defendant proves she did not even own a computer

[Darth Sushi]

RIAA Member Settles Suit After Defendant Proves She Did Even Not Own a Computer
1:30 AM on Fri Jun 26 2009

" By Dan Nosowitz

RIAA member Universal Music Group was forced to settle a piracy suit it had brought against Mavis Roy after suffering a bit of a setback in their prosecution: Mavis Roy did not own a computer when UMG first brought suit.

Roy, a New Hampshire resident, actually thought the letters she received from UMG's lawyers were either a joke or a scam and didn't respond for several months. Her reaction is pretty understandable; the RIAA simply directed her to a site where she could pay her "debt" with a credit card (which certainly seems like a scam) and, again, Roy did not own a damn computer.

UMG had mistakenly sued her due to the vast deficiencies in MediaSentry, the anti-piracy software the RIAA uses to track down pirates. MediaSentry incorrectly pinpoints IP addresses with not uncommon frequency, and this is obviously one such case. Roy mounted a case and UMG was forced to settle out of court, for fear that any decision at all would result in a precedent that could mean future suits could be thrown out as well. Unfortunately, the settlement does not include UMG paying Roy to apologize for being such a-holes about the whole thing, and neither side will receive any money. "

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5302777/riaa-memb...n-not-own-a-co | UMG Recordings v. Mavis Roy case settled

[megabyteme]

The record companies have just turned this into an extortion ring. They have brought in a lot of money by terrorizing anyone who gets a letter. And... it is up to youto prove that you did not dl anything.

No wonder this woman settled out of court- she probably wanted her life back to normal.

The record companies should have to pay huge fines for suing people like this. This is not justice- this is not fairness- this is a large corporation bullying private citizens.

[reaktor]

While I agree, I do have a little question in regards to this scenario. These so called anti-piracy groups go after an IP address and get the information from the ISP.

Why would this person's information be listed within the ISP's account records? Why do you need internet if you do not own a computer?

I cant claim to know this particular case but on the surface, I think that's a pretty valid question.

[manu1991]

^^ It says he did not own a computer at that time , it says nothing about previous and/or future ownerships