Oops. Sorry, Wrong Person: RIAA Shotgun Lawsuits

Filed in archive Consumer Rights , Legal , RIAA, IFPI on January 8, 2007

RIAA now has dropped several copyright infringement lawsuits against suspected P2P file sharers, including Warner v. Pidgeon and Interscope v. Leadbetter and Elektra v. Santangelo . Generally this is so RIAA can amend or refile the claim against a related person.

This practice highlights RIAA's shotgun justice. During the course of the suit RIAA switches from the initial ISP subscriber to more appropriate targets if found. As a well-funded adversary RIAA thinks nothing of suing tens of thousands of people based on limited information. Such weak evidence would not be enough for a criminal arrest. But RIAA can get away with it as a civil suit.

No harm, you say? Hardly. At a minimum many innocent people are being sued and forced to spend thousands of dollars to defend themselves. Is there any justice for the innocent? Judges have indicated that plaintiffs may be awarded attorneys fees and costs. But there have been no such awards yet.