RIAA apparently screws up, sues wrong person in P2P suits [ip]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 09:09:29 -0400
From: David Stephenson <D.Stephenson () stephensonstrategies com>
Organization: Stephenson Strategies
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Subject: major RIAA screw-up, but no apology...

A total screw-up by RIAA, but they can't quite bring themselves to 
admitting a major mistake....
--W. David Stephenson

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From: "Hal Bringman" <hal () hbpr com>
To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan () well com>
Subject: Mistaken identity raises questions on legal strategy
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 06:16:20 -0700


http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/267/business/Recording_industry_withdraws_suit+.shtml


Recording industry withdraws suit

Mistaken identity raises questions on legal strategy

By Chris Gaither, Globe Staff, 9/24/2003

The recording industry has withdrawn a lawsuit against a Newbury woman
because it falsely accused her of illegally sharing music -- possibly the
first case of mistaken identity in the battle against Internet file-traders.

Privacy advocates said the suit against Sarah Seabury Ward, a sculptor who
said she has never downloaded or digitally shared a song, revealed flaws in
the Recording Industry Association of America's legal strategy. Ward was
caught up in a flood of 261 lawsuits filed two weeks ago that targeted
people who, through software programs like Kazaa, make copyrighted songs
available for others to download over the Internet.

''When the RIAA announced they were going on this litigation crusade, we
knew there was going to be someone like Sarah Ward,'' said Cindy Cohn, legal
director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet privacy group
in San Francisco that has advised Ward and others sued by the music
industry. ''And we think were will be more.''

The lawsuit claimed that Ward had illegally shared more than 2,000 songs
through Kazaa and threatened to hold her liable for up to $150,000 for each
song. The plaintiffs were Sony Music, BMG, Virgin, Interscope, Atlantic,
Warner Brothers, and Arista.

Among the songs she was accused of sharing: ''I'm a Thug,'' by the rapper
Trick Daddy.

But Ward, 66, is a ''computer neophyte'' who never installed file-sharing
software, let alone downloaded hard-core rap about baggy jeans and gold
teeth, according to letters sent to the recording industry's agents by her
lawyer, Jeffrey Beeler.

Other defendants have blamed their children for using file-sharing software,
but Ward has no children living with her, Beeler said.

Moreover, Ward uses a Macintosh computer at home. Kazaa runs only on
Windows-based personal computers.

Beeler complained to the RIAA, demanding an apology and ''dismissal with
prejudice'' of the lawsuit, which would prohibit future lawsuits against
her. Foley Hoag, the Boston firm representing the record labels, on Friday
dropped the case, but without prejudice.

''Please note, however, that we will continue our review of the issues you
raised and we reserve the right to refile the complaint against Mrs. Ward if
and when circumstances warrant,'' Colin J. Zick, the Foley Hoag lawyer,
wrote to Beeler.

The trade group released Zick's letter late yesterday and said it would have
no other comment.

...

Chris Gaither can be reached at gaither () globe com. Hiawatha Bray of the
Globe staff contributed to this report.

This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 9/24/2003.


best, hal


Hal Bringman
HBPR, LLC
P: + 1.310.659.1060, ext 111#  (<--- PLEASE NOTE NEW NUMBER/EXTENSION)
E: hal () hbpr com
AIM: hbringman
MSN: halbringman
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