Is RIAA's MediaSentry Illegal in Your State?

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Is Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG 'investigator' MediaSentry operating illegally in your state?. The Massachusetts State police has already banned the company, and it's been accused of operating without a license in Oregon, Florida, Texas, and New York. Similar charges have now been leveled the organization in Michigan. Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Growth, in response to a complaint, has confirmed that MediaSentry is not licensed in Michigan, and referred the complainant to the local prosecutor."

Prosecuter Doesn't Care

[Anonymous Coward]

Prosecutors would rather send someone to jail for victimless crimes like drug posession than for extortion and racketeering which the RIAA and MPAA regularly engage in.

Abuse of Power, Government Sanctioned?

[PC and Sony Fanboy]

The RIAA seems to be operating without any regard to the actual laws of the country. Doesn't this bother anyone? It isn't a few isolated cases, the RIAA operates as if it IS the law and the government does nothing to stop it, UNLESS the RIAA is challenged.

So much for the land of the free - it is the land of 'Get away with whatever you can, as fast as you can'. Imagine if the general population acted like the RIAA does?

Re:Freedom

[Original Replica]

I believe that law is there to provide some parallel of fourth amendment rights in regard to investigation by non-government entities (like MediaSentry). With out this, any one with sufficient funds who disliked you could be constantly investigating you, waiting for you to make any kind of mistake that could be leveraged into a criminal charge. Having licensed investigators allow some standards to be maintained, and rules of conduct to be applied. MediaSentry's conduct is near perfect example of why this law does need to exist to protect individuals from constant investigation.

Easier question

[Shagg]

Are there any states where they are licensed to investigate?

Re:Abuse of Power, Government Sanctioned?

[moderatorrater]

The RIAA seems to be operating without any regard to the actual laws of the country. Doesn't this bother anyone?...So much for the land of the free

Nope, not a single person cares. Oh, yeah, except for a few lawyers in new york and most of the forums on the internet, including this one. But other than the thousands and/or millions those represent, nope, it doesn't bother anyone.

As for being the land of the free, this is a complicated legal process. The RIAA literally can't get the identity of the person that they're investigating without filing against them and then forcing the ISP to turn over the records. As despicable as it is, they're not the ones who created that problem (even if they're exploiting it for all they're worth). In addition, they have the right to defend their property from being abused, so the judges can't just throw these cases out without giving the RIAA a chance to prove what they're doing. To use the cliche, they should get their days in court.

Finally, the tide seems to be turning as more and more judges are punishing them for their abusive actions. MediaSentry is getting slammed from nearly every direction, many colleges are standing up, and court cases are being won. Your comment is dumb in the extreme, and maybe even what I would consider a troll.

Re:Freedom

[actiondan]

I don't know how it works in the states but over here in the UK, licensing works pretty well for all kinds of businesses.

For example, pubs have to have an license to serve alcohol. Too much trouble around a particular pub and they can lose their license.

Restaurants and cafes need a license to serve food. If the health inspectors find that the hygene standards are not adhered to, they lose their license.

Taxis and private hire cars have to licensed. They can lose their license if they drive unsafely.

I like the fact that if the pub down the road causes trouble on our street it will be closed down, bad restuarants lose their licenses before they give me food poisoning and I can get into a taxi knowing that the driver hasn't been in a whole load of crashes.

The only sensible alternative is for businesses to opt in to voluntary schemes. This does work well for some kinds of business but for some things, especially where people might be endangered, I'm happy that we have mandatory licensing.

Pennsylvania?

[scubamage]

anyone know if they're licensed in PA? If not I've got a few hundred friends who will be contacting the state attorney general's office.

Re:Freedom

[pluther]

Here's a basic question, do you know of, or ever heard of, a licensed contractor who didn't know what he was doing?

No, I never have.

I have heard of licensed contractors who deliberately cut corners, making illegal modifications, and subverted the inspection process, but never of one who got a license with no training or proven skills at all.

When these people are caught, they can lose their licenses. Which makes them no longer able to work as a contractor. Which is both a powerful disincentive to break the rules as well as a fairly effective way of eliminating those who do.

Do some sometimes slip through? Sure, but just because the system isn't 100% effective 100% of the time doesn't mean it's totally worthless. There's quite a lot of room between those two extremes.

Yes, it's true that licenses are an artificial barrier to business. But you say that as if it is a bad thing. As someone who has lived a good part of my life inside buildings, some of them very large, and almost all of them built by other people, I am quite happy that there are artificial barriers like licenses, building codes, inspection processes, and so forth in place. Because of these, I've never had a building I've been in fall down on me.

Re:Freedom

[Archangel Michael]

why is this modded flamebait? Truth as flamebait? Slashdot mods amazes me sometimes.

Prove me wrong, don't call it flamebait because it hurts your political views. Perhaps it is the nine year old needing a license to sell lemonade? That too is true.

http://damienkatz.net/2005/08/child_labor_ope.html [damienkatz.net]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/08/03/when_life_hands_you_lemons/ [boston.com]

My basic premise was that licensing was a barrier to entry into the market. The proof is often absurd as it is outrageous.

Tell me again what licensing does? What qualifications does it take to open a lemonade stand?

   

Re:Freedom

[Archangel Michael]

I'm not sure why this isn't done more often, but a state can revoke a corporate charter, essentially killing the artificially created entity. I honestly think if that happened more often, investors and board of directors would require better of the employees rather than looking at the bottom line only.

If a corporation is so shady, and despicable, why not revoke the charter? Let the state sell off the assets and keep the revenue.

Re:Easier question

[compro01]

AFAIK, Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, and South Dakota have no statewide requirement for private investigators to be licensed.

Small wonder.....

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

that MediaSentry is stonewalling on Marie Lindor's document subpoena [slashdot.org]. I guess it has some skeletons in its closet.

Re:To clarify

[number11]

Do they [the RIAA] operate outside the US? I've got *loads* of MP3s on my server

In the UK, they're the BPI. http://www.bpi.co.uk/ [bpi.co.uk] As you can see from their website, they're for "fair" copyright, that is, copyright that lasts a thousand years. Instead of having to sue people, they want your ISP to be their enforcement arm. Cheaper, easier, and if there's any flak, the ISP will be the one who catches it.

Re:time for class action lawsuit

[monxrtr]

Not to mention, I.P. addresses are not persons. Every settlement letter ever mailed to every person is a violation of a multitude of RICO predicates. Not to mention every error made in the past shows a pattern of incompetence to be admitted as counter evidence to any and all future claims.

Really, though, if you want to win the war against the RIAA overnight, you hold an academic legal conference at an Elite Law School, and brainstorm for 40-50 RICO predicate counts, and then forward the results to a politically connected prosecutor to initiate subpoenas and charges. Publicize and open the conference for $99 attendance fees. Many of those RIAA lawyers, MediaSentry investigators, and music industry executives will end up facing 30 year prison terms, and confiscation of corporate and personal assets. It's that simple. And many mid level fish will turn and rat out the higher ups before you can say "Jack Robinson".

I would gather names of those who are provably falsely accused and contact the FBI, to see what if any additional domestic terrorism charges can be brought.

And of course, the icing on the cake is Sarbanes-Oxley to get them on Hollywood Accounting violations, along with tax evasion and IRS resources.

You combine this, and the RIAA is literally fucked up the creek without a paddle. We just need a little bit of national organization activism to combine disparate academic entities, individuals, government agencies, and groups like the EFF et al.

And as bonus, no politicians will seriously touch their future lobbying efforts with a ten foot pole for decades to come. Eliot Spitzer is going down now; the RIAA can go down 50 times harder with just as much, if not much more, ease.