"Music-Sharing Subpoenas Target Parents"

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 07:35:41 -0400
> From: Ted Bridis <tbridis () ap org>
> Subject: "Music-Sharing Subpoenas Target Parents"
> To: dave () farber net
>
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38406-2003Jul24.html
>
> By TED BRIDIS
> AP Technology Writer
>
> WASHINGTON - Parents, roommates - even grandparents - are being targeted in
> the music industry's new campaign to track computer users who share songs
> over the Internet, bringing the threat of expensive lawsuits to more than
> college kids.
>
> "Within five minutes, if I can get hold of her, this will come to an end,"
> said Gordon Pate of Dana Point, Calif., when told by The Associated Press
> that a federal subpeona had been issued over his daughter's music downloads.
> The subpoena required the family's Internet provider to hand over Pate's
> name and address to lawyers for the recording industry.
>
> Pate, 67, confirmed that his 23-year-old daughter, Leah Pate, had installed
> file-sharing software using an account cited on the subpoena. But he said
> his daughter would stop immediately and the family didn't know using such
> software could result in a stern warning, expensive lawsuit or even criminal
> prosecution.
>
> "There's no way either us or our daughter would do anything we knew to be
> illegal," Pate said, promising to remove the software quickly. "I don't
> think anybody knew this was illegal, just a way to get some music."
>
> The president of the Recording Industry Association of America, the trade
> group for the largest music labels, warned that lawyers will pursue
> downloaders regardless of personal circumstances because it would deter
> other Internet users.
>
> "The idea really is not to be selective, to let people know that if they're
> offering a substantial number of files for others to copy, they are at
> risk," Cary Sherman said. "It doesn't matter who they are."
>
> Over the coming months this may be the Internet's equivalent of shock and
> awe, the stunning discovery by music fans across America that copyright
> lawyers can pierce the presumed anonymity of file-sharing, even for computer
> users hiding behind clever nicknames such as "hottdude0587" or
> "bluemonkey13."
>
> In Charleston, W.Va., college student Amy Boggs said she quickly deleted
> more than 1,400 music files on her computer after the AP told her she was
> the target of another subpoena. Boggs said she sometimes downloaded dozens
> of songs on any given day, including ones by Fleetwood Mac, Blondie, Incubus
> and Busta Rhymes.
>
> Since Boggs used her roommates' Internet account, the roommates' name and
> address was being turned over to music industry lawyers.
>
> "This scares me so bad I never want to download anything again," said Boggs,
> who turned 22 on Thursday. "I never thought this would happen. There are
> millions of people out there doing this."
>
> In homes where parents or grandparents may not closely monitor the family's
> Internet use, news could be especially surprising. A defendant's liability
> can depend on their age and whether anyone else knew about the music
> downloads.
>
> Bob Barnes, a 50-year-old grandfather in Fresno, Calif., and the target of
> another subpeona, acknowledged sharing "several hundred" music files. He
> said he used the Internet to download hard-to-find recordings of European
> artists because he was unsatisfied with modern American artists and grew
> tired of buying CDs without the chance to listen to them first.
>
> "If you don't like it, you can't take it back," said Barnes, who runs a
> small video production company with his wife from their three-bedroom home.
> "You have all your little blonde, blue-eyed clones. There's no originality."
>
>
> Citing on its subpoenas the numeric Internet addresses of music downloaders,
> the RIAA has said it can only track users by comparing those addresses
> against subscriber records held by Internet providers. But the AP used those
> addresses and other details culled from subpoenas and was able to identify
> and locate some Internet users who are among the music industry's earliest
> targets.
>
> Pate was wavering whether to call the RIAA to negotiate a settlement.
> "Should I call a lawyer?" he wondered.
>
> The RIAA's president wasn't sure what advice to offer because he never
> imagined downloaders could be identified by name until Internet providers
> turned over subscriber records.
>
> "It's not a scenario we had truthfully envisaged," Sherman said. "If
> somebody wants to settle before a lawsuit is filed it would be fine to call
> us, but it's really not clear how we're going to perceive this."
>
> The RIAA has issued at least 911 subpoenas so far, according to court
> records. Lawyers have said they expect to file at least several hundred
> lawsuits within eight weeks, and copyright laws allow for damages of $750 to
> $150,000 for each song.
>
> The AP tracked targets of subpoenas to neighborhoods in Boston; Chicago; St.
> Louis; San Francisco; New York and Ann Arbor, Mich.
>
> Outside legal experts urged the music industry to carefully select targets
> for its earliest lawsuits. Several lawyers said they were doubtful the RIAA
> ultimately will choose to sue computer users like the Pate family.
>
> "If they end up picking on individuals who are perceived to be grandmothers
> or junior high students who have only downloaded in isolated incidents, they
> run the risk of a backlash," said Christopher Caldwell, a lawyer in Los
> Angeles who works with major studios and the Motion Picture Association of
> America.
>
> The recording industry said Pate's daughter was offering songs by Billy
> Idol, Missy Elliot, Duran Duran, Def Leppard and other artists. Pate said
> that he never personally downloaded music and that he so zealously respects
> copyrights that he doesn't videotape movies off cable television channels.
>
> Barnes, who used the Napster (news - web sites) service until the music
> industry shut it down, said he rarely uses file-sharing software these days
> unless his grandson visits. The RIAA found songs on his computer by Marvin
> Gaye, Savage Garden, Berlin, the Eagles, Dire Straits and others.
>
> Barnes expressed some concern about a possible lawsuit but was confident
> that "more likely they will probably come out with a cease and desist order"
> to stop him sharing music files on the Internet.
>
> "I think they're trying to scare people," Barnes said.
> ___
>
> On the Net:
> Recording Industry Association of America: www.riaa.org
> Subpoena Defense: www.subpoenadefense.org

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