Programmer Challenges RIAA Investigators

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In court papers filed today in Manhattan federal court, programmer Zi Mei has slammed the investigation on which the 'ex parte' orders obtained in the RIAA's cases against consumers are based. Armed with Mei's affidavit, a midwesterner -- sued in Atlantic v. Does 1-25 in New York City as 'John Doe Number 8' -- has asked the judge to vacate the 'ex parte' order on the ground that the RIAA doesn't have the evidence it needs to get such an order. If Doe wins, the RIAA's subpoenas to the ISP, for its subscriber's identities, will be thrown out."

IMPRESSIVE

[Anonymous Coward]

but probably not effective, young master.

SILLY HU-MAN

[Anonymous Coward]

You will be crushed by RIAA! Rocket-subpoena arms-- ACTIVATE!

Re:what the fuck

[MightyMartian]

is the summary trying to say? it's nonsensical gibberish

Ah, young Padawan learner, you have discovered a truth. Now put down your light saber, it is time to teach law, so that in time you to will be paid $200 an hour to write word salad.

Re:ex parte

[Anonymous Coward]

or here [legal-explanations.com] or here [dictionary.net] or here [answers.com] or here [thefreedictionary.com] or here [wordwebonline.com] or here [thefreedictionary.com] or here [m-w.com] or here [studycrime.com] or here [legal-definitions.com].

Re:ex parte

[Heem]

or here [slashdot.org]

Re: ex parte

[Black Parrot]

> or here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here.

You can also find a lot of links about it on Slashdot.

ahem

[Anonymous Coward]

Does this mean i can sue the police to get my 650 pound stash of pat back

Who's Pat, and why do the police have him? Why would you want someone who's so heavy?

Word Salad?

[TubeSteak]

Fictional RIAA Victim: I paid my lawyer $200 an hour, still went to jail and all I got was a tossed salad.

What language was that in?

[johnMG]

Did you ever read an article summary and just have no clue at all what they were talking about?

What is "slammed the investigation" supposed to mean?

Is Mei the midwesterner? Who's this "Atlantic" character? Is he the big boss?

Is there someone codenamed "Does 1-25"? Maybe that person is playing "John Doe Number 8" in the off-Broadway version of this article submission?

Also, I think that last sentence about about the RIAA's subpoenas could've used some parentheses in there somewhere.

Re:ex parte

[sd_diamond]

A.K.A. "The Recursive Slashdot Effect"

Re:down with Media Sentry

[Unknown_monkey]

You're using the same flawed logic as the **AA's. You're assuming that since they claim that the people have commited the infringement that they must have. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff. The defense has the opportunity to defend but the best defense can sometimes be based on the fact that the plaintiff may not be able to prove the allegation based on a preponderance of the evidence. Since MAC addresses and IP's can be spoofed and hijacked and even firewalls can be penetrated, unless there is a credible witness or a video showing the john doe committing the act of copyright violation, then there are some severe holes in the plaintiff's allegations. Just because a computer on a sharing network says it is my computer that does not definitively show that it is my machine. My cell phone can be cloned, my mac address can be spoofed, my email can be spoofed, my machine could be a zombie. The reason that the majority of the people sued have settled is the monetary loss just in defending the lawsuit can bankrupt the average american and people are caving because they can't afford to defend themselves against a major industry representative that's willing to funnel costs into a deductible legal expense vs the mom and pop doe that have to choose between a settlement or sending junior doe off to college.

I think that next week we'll see the BMG settlement enter into the Enron trial proceedings. My guess is that the defense will contend that the Sony rootkit was possibly installed on their computers, resulting in their accounting software reporting music company profits instead of the actual profits that Enron may or may not have had.
This resulted in the senior management relying on data that while it may have been incorrect, they had no reason to suspect it and should thereby recieve a complete download of an album from 1 of 200 (my goodness, I'm betting that 198 of them will be in the public domain and the other too will be Buck Owens' Greatest Hits and Buck Owens with AC/DC on "Dirt Road to Hell". In turn they will not only go free, but get some great Tunes!