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images/news/mafiaa.jpgAs part of its stepped-up efforts against file-sharing on college campuses, the RIAA has begun filing lawsuits against college students who don't take advantage of the group's discounted settlement offer. A student at Boston University is fighting back, challenging the RIAA's system of filing John Doe lawsuits in order to discover the names connected to IP addresses uncovered by the music industry's investigators.
Filed in the US District Court of the District of Massachusetts, "John Doe's" motion seeks to have the RIAA's subpoenas seeking the names behind the IP addresses quashed. It's apparently the first motion of its kind made in a campus file-sharing case, and Ray Beckerman told Ars that the only such motions he is aware of in other file-sharing cases were filed in Manhattan; all three of them were denied.
The motion seeks to have the RIAA's ex parte discovery order vacated, which would prevent the record labels in Arista v. Does 1-21 from learning the identity of the IP addresses flagged by MediaSentry from Boston University. The motion argues that there is no prima facie evidence of copyright infringement occurring, and points out that federal courts have "disfavored" allowing expedited, ex parte discovery in John Doe complaints.
Arstechnica
Filed in the US District Court of the District of Massachusetts, "John Doe's" motion seeks to have the RIAA's subpoenas seeking the names behind the IP addresses quashed. It's apparently the first motion of its kind made in a campus file-sharing case, and Ray Beckerman told Ars that the only such motions he is aware of in other file-sharing cases were filed in Manhattan; all three of them were denied.
The motion seeks to have the RIAA's ex parte discovery order vacated, which would prevent the record labels in Arista v. Does 1-21 from learning the identity of the IP addresses flagged by MediaSentry from Boston University. The motion argues that there is no prima facie evidence of copyright infringement occurring, and points out that federal courts have "disfavored" allowing expedited, ex parte discovery in John Doe complaints.
Arstechnica
