Tech Shout!

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been dragged to court by an Oregan lady after the trade group representing the U.S. recording industry withdrew a two-year legal case against her for alleged file sharing.

Tanya Andersen and her nine year-old daughter Kylee were accused of downloading gangster rap and other music on May 20, 2004. However, Andersen disputed the claims and the RIAA finally decided to drop the case in early June.

Andersen, 42, a disabled, single mother from Beaverton, has now gone ahead and plans to give all a tough time indeed. She has not only filed papers to sue RIAA but also MediaSentry, a firm which collects evidence of alleged file sharing activity. Andersen and her Washington-based attorney, Lory R. Lybeck. Andersen have filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Oregon last week seeking additional damages.

Andersen stated that though she asked the RIAA investigators to inspect her PC, to see if it comprised of any illegally obtained material, ironically they declined to do so and rather chose to take legal action, claiming that they knew the time of the file sharing and the user name she was using

The court papers mentioned, “Instead of dismissing their false claims the defendant record companies persisted in their malicious prosecution and publicly libelled her with demeaning and repulsive accusations.”

Adding, “She has no interest in the violent, profane, misogynistic and racist music that the RIAA and its controlling member companies monopolise.”

After that RIAA agreed to scrutinize Andersen’s computer and found no shared music or the software to do it whatsoever.

But in spite of this, the RIAA demanded a payment from Andersen and insisted that her daughter should stand trial along with her.

As though such torture and insult was enough, RIAA went to the level of calling the daughter’s school and asked to speak to her by acting to be her grandmother.

The industry has taken legal action against 21,000 individual computer users since 2003.

This case will be one that would be deciding RIAA’s future to a great extent as it could initiate incidences of similar case and force the umbrella organization to reconsider its stringent policy.