On Monday, Feb. 16, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) went to court to violate the privacy rights of all Canadians. The court told them to get their shit together and come back in March.
On Monday, the Canadian Recording Industry Association asked the Federal Court of Canada to order five communications companies to hand over the identities of 29 so-called "uploaders," Internet users who posted hundreds of songs illegally on the Web. The motion has been adjourned until March 12 for the parties involved to review the scope of CRIA's request, including the technical ability for the Internet service providers to meet the order.
What tends to get obscured in the kerfuffle is that CRIA doesn't represent copyright holders, record labels or musicians. They represent the manufacturers and wholesale distributors of compact discs, with most of their activity devoted to certifying shipments of CDs to retailers, and then presenting a nice little framed plaque. So they think this gives them the standing to violate your privacy rights and engage in extortion. But, it's just in time for Canadian Music Week - that should be fun.
Because they don't really care if they identify uploaders, they just want to threaten people they are sure can't afford to take the civil case to court (this isn't about criminal law, this is a civil suit):
"I have never downloaded a single song. I honestly wouldn't know how to do it," said one Alberta Telus customer who asked not to be identified. The 35-year-old woman received a letter from the ISP last week advising her to seek legal counsel because the music industry was seeking her identity.
This is the same strategy employed in the States, and one New Jersey woman knew a shakedown when she saw it, and faster than you can say "Bada Bing!" she has launched a counter-suit against the RIAA under the RICO act:
Labels are using "scare tactics (that) amount to extortion" in efforts to extract settlements, Scimeca alleges in legal papers sent to the U.S. District Court in Newark.Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2
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