RIAA Pays $107,951 to Alleged Filesharer

I post this not because of any personal interest but because it is clear that the RIAA are very good at publicising anything that looks vaguely like a win for them, but are very quiet (as are the rest of the mainstream news media) when things go the other way.

The RIAA has settled Atlantic vs Anderson with prejudice - they accept they brought the case in error, and have accepted liability for Anderson's legal costs (and interest)... the bill: $107,951.

It is time that the RIAA (and their mates at the MPAA, and alied organisations in Europe) realised that, whatever the rights & wrongs of copyright infringment, they cannot simply assume that someone sharing files over a P2P connection is automatically infringing on the rights of those they claim to represent. As more and more musicians come out either in opposition to the restrictive & punitive behaviours of the record companies, or even in direct support of free file sharing, surely they have got to see that the music industry revenue model has to change as consumer demand simply won't support their existing profitteering methods.

The market has spoken, all hail market forces... except where there inconvenient to a big corporation like Disney, Sony, RCA, UMG...

Barbara Bauer Redux

Back in May, I wrote about literary agent Barbara Bauer, and her attempts to sue Wikimedia for comments by a third party in the Wikipedia. A perfect example of the much-cited Streisand Effect.

Now the case has finally reached judgement, the EFF reports that the New Jersey judge has dismissed Ms Bauer's claims as federal law protects online forums and bulletin boards from liability for their (non-staff) contributors' comments. (Section 230 of the CDA)

I told you so.

And, of course, this information will cause another round of "isn't Barbara Bauer ignorant of the law" posts... more negative publicity for the Barbara Bauer Literary Agency.

Ah, the lawyers strike again, and walk away unharmed, and no doubt hansomely paid for their time and poor advice. Can anyone say "professional liability"?