Ray Beckerman used our news submit to tell us: "Interesting to note that Ms. Stubbs is represented by Marilyn Barringer-Thomson, of Oklahoma City, the same lawyer who represents Deborah Foster in Capitol v. Foster, the case in which (1) the judge held that the RIAA may be liable for the defendant"s attorneys fees, (2) an amicus curiae brief was submitted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Citizen, the ACLU of Oklahoma Foundation, and the American Association of Law Libraries, and (3) the RIAA has asked the judge not to read the amicus curiae brief."
It certainly does seem like extortion, since the maximum
fine allowed per track in these cases is $150,000 and the burden is upon the
accused to prove their innocence. Most people just take the settlement offer
from the RIAA of around 3-4 thousand dollars, as they cannot risk losing such a
case, as the fine and legal fees could wreck their lives. Let's hope this
legal team has found a way to stop this intimidation of private citizens in
Civil Court and we see an end to these type lawsuits. This is the second time
they have gotten the RIAA to back off. The article can be found here as well as a plaintiffs motion to dismiss on this page(PDF).
Source: Recording Industry vs People
