RIAA and Economic Rape Under the Color of Law
Elsewhere, I'm having a dialogue with a young woman who is studying law.
We were talking about the RIAA case, in which a large number of lawsuits were instigated against people whom the RIAA [Recording Industry Association of America] accuses of illegally downloading music via P2P file sharing services.
One of the lawsuits names a woman who has been dead for several years. The dead woman failed to appear in court to answer the summons. She is now in danger of being cited for contempt of court and possibly imprisoned for the rest of her natural life, which is -2 years.
Another RIAA lawsuit named the single mother of 6, because RIAA traced an IP number to her ex-husband. The judge says this woman is so computer illiterate, she doesn't know a KaZaA from a Kazoo. Nonetheless the RIAA proceeded with their economic rape of this struggling family. So far she's out $24,000 in legal fees and her case hasn't even been scheduled yet for trial.
My correspondent — the young woman studying law — believes this economic rape and ruin of a family of six is fully justified treatment under the law.
In Physics, an object whose gravity is all out of proportion to its size is called a Black Hole. They do exist (there is one at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy), but they are rare. The gravity from a Black Hole the size of a grain of sand would suck in everything near it and reduce it to pulsating plasma.
The law, as practiced by the RIAA, is operating like a Black Hole, reducing everything in its path to utter ruin.
I fear that those practicing law will never understand why infinitely powerful destructive forces like Black Holes have no place in a well-regulated gravitational system.
But they have a definite place in highly dramatic cataclysms, for those who are into the rapturous thrill of apocalyptic traumas.
We were talking about the RIAA case, in which a large number of lawsuits were instigated against people whom the RIAA [Recording Industry Association of America] accuses of illegally downloading music via P2P file sharing services.
One of the lawsuits names a woman who has been dead for several years. The dead woman failed to appear in court to answer the summons. She is now in danger of being cited for contempt of court and possibly imprisoned for the rest of her natural life, which is -2 years.
Another RIAA lawsuit named the single mother of 6, because RIAA traced an IP number to her ex-husband. The judge says this woman is so computer illiterate, she doesn't know a KaZaA from a Kazoo. Nonetheless the RIAA proceeded with their economic rape of this struggling family. So far she's out $24,000 in legal fees and her case hasn't even been scheduled yet for trial.
My correspondent — the young woman studying law — believes this economic rape and ruin of a family of six is fully justified treatment under the law.
In Physics, an object whose gravity is all out of proportion to its size is called a Black Hole. They do exist (there is one at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy), but they are rare. The gravity from a Black Hole the size of a grain of sand would suck in everything near it and reduce it to pulsating plasma.
The law, as practiced by the RIAA, is operating like a Black Hole, reducing everything in its path to utter ruin.
I fear that those practicing law will never understand why infinitely powerful destructive forces like Black Holes have no place in a well-regulated gravitational system.
But they have a definite place in highly dramatic cataclysms, for those who are into the rapturous thrill of apocalyptic traumas.
posted by Moulton | 8:45 AM
2 Comments:
I predict that the abuse of some will lead to a reaction by others.
It is only a matter of time before judges and legislatures begin to look at these types of cases as abusive.
I haven't been following the cases, but I suspect that the cases aren't being filed in traditionally "liberal" courts that are inclined to give consumers the benefit of the doubt.
A few bad debt collectors led to the creation of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act which regulates debt collection activities. A couple of bad guys threaten to break peoples' knees, and Congress passed a law outlawing that type of collection practice.
I predict that the shotgun approach to civil litigation will be regulated in the near future.
When enough stories of deceased defendants and computer illiterate mothers reach the ears of Congress, there will be some sort of legislation introduced.
Also, I bet a few judges here and there will find in favor of the defendants if the facts show that they couldn't have done what they were accused of doing.
It's an easy prediction.
Dramas, by definition, are sequences of actions and reactions by characters in an antagonistic relationship.
The RIAA cases are illustrative of abuse of legal process, but they are hardly unique.
Legal Abuse Syndrome is one of the fastest growing varieties of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
But no amount of new legislation will fix this problem. Excessive legislation is the problem.
It is mathematically impossible to construct a stable and functional regulatory system out of legislation.
Legislation inherently lacks the essential affordance of a functional regulatory process.
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