Home

New Jersey

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 |

New Jersey Institute of Technology Bans File-Sharing on Campus Network

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 2, 2003 - 8:19am.
San Francisco -- In the wake of a lawsuit filed by the recording industry against four college students accused of copyright infringement via file-sharing networks, the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has banned the use of file-sharing software like Kazaa, Grokster and Gnutella on its campus network, Wired News reported on Friday. The school is using "traffic shaping" software to monitor its network for the telltale signs of file-sharing, in addition to prohibiting the use of the well-known file-sharing services. "Our institution was receiving calls from the Recording Industry Association of America on almost a daily basis, identifying addresses that belonged to our students," Jack Gentul, dean of students at NJIT, told Wired News. "It was growing in number to the point in which we couldn't handle it. When I can't get my own 13-year-old to stop (file-sharing), I don't know how I can get my entire campus to stop." The record industry lauded the school's decision. "The specific action a higher education institution chooses to take to prevent this type of illegal behavior varies and is up to the individual university, but we absolutely applaud those who take such theft seriously," an RIAA spokesperson told Wired. http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,58698,00.html
tags: File-Sharing | Campus | New Jersey | Institute of Technology |