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New Jersey Woman Sues RIAA for Extortion Under Racketeering Laws

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 19, 2004 - 8:20am.
Rockaway Township, N.J. -- A New Jersey woman targeted by one of the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) copyright infringement lawsuits has countersued the major record labels under U.S. racketeering laws, claiming they are extorting settlement fees from the alleged copyright infringers they have sued. Michele Scimeca says that by suing alleged file-swappers on charges that could bring damages in the millions of dollars -- and then offering to settle the suits for lesser amounts -- the labels are engaging in extortion similar to tactics used by organized crime. In papers filed with the U.S. District Court in Newark, Scimeca's attorney Bart Lombardo states, "This scare tactic has caused a vast amount of settlements from individuals who feared fighting such a large institution and feel victim to these actions and felt forced to provide funds to settle these actions instead of fighting." The RIAA has to date sued nearly 1,500 individuals for copyright infringement, having settled with close to 400 defendants for amounts between $2,000 and $10,000. Legal experts have called Scimeca's strategy a novel idea, but somewhat of a long-shot defense against the record companies' copyright infringement claims.
tags: RIAA | Laws | New Jersey | Racketeering |

FBI "Anti-Piracy" Label to Feature on Music, Movies, Software, Games

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 19, 2004 - 8:19am.
Los Angeles -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Thursday announced a joint initiative with record labels, movie studios, software and game developers that will result in a new FBI "Anti-Piracy" warning label being placed on and within physical and digital copyrighted works. The four industries participating in the endeavor collectively claim $3 billion in losses due to copyright infringement in 2003. "It is our hope that when consumers see the new FBI warning on the music they purchase, both physically and digitally, they will take the time to learn the do's and don'ts of copying and uploading to the Internet," said Brad Buckles, director of anti-piracy at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "As this seal attests, these are the serious crimes with serious consequences -- including federal prosecution -- to making unauthorized copies or uploading music without permission and consumers should be aware of them." The exact design and phrasing of the FBI warning labels -- long a fixture on VHS and DVD movies -- is still under consideration by the various industries.
tags: Games | Music | Movies | Software | Anti-Piracy | FBI |

Study: Teen-Rated Games Feature Content Not Consistent with Rating

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 19, 2004 - 8:17am.
Chicago -- A recent study of Teen-rated video games published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that many titles brandishing the "T" rating depicted acts of violence, sex and alcohol and tobacco use not in agreement with the rating's definition. For the study, Harvard researchers Kimberly Thompson and Kevin Hanniger played 81 randomly sampled Teen-rated game titles and found that 48% of these games contained content not described on the game's box. Fifteen percent of the games also depicted alcohol or tobacco use, when only 1% of all T-rated games feature a warning to this effect on their packaging. The researchers concluded that "a significant amount of content in T-rated video games that might surprise adolescent players and their parents given the presence of this content in games without ESRB content descriptors."
tags: Games | Study | Teen-Rated | Consistent | Rating |

U.K. ISP Telewest Developing "Scent Dome" for PCs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 19, 2004 - 8:17am.
London -- U.K.-based ISP Telewest Broadband announced on Thursday that it is developing a hi-tech scent device that would plug in to PCs and release odors on command. The "scent dome" device, which would retail at about 250 pounds ($472), would come with a replaceable cartridge containing about 20 basic smells that could be combined to produce up to 60 different aromas, the company said. "We are always looking at ways to enhance the broadband Internet experience of the future," said Telewest Broadband Internet Services Director Chad Raube. "And this time we are sure consumers will come up smelling of roses." A similar device was marketed several years ago by the now-defunct U.S. firm DigiScent.
tags: ISP | U.K | PCs | Scent Dome |