How many people who have been sued by the RIAA have been innocent? The RIAA's tactics for finding file-sharers are sketchy, especially given that they use IP addresses to identify people. IP addresses, like email addresses, can be falsified and are unreliable. And yet the RIAA files thousands of "John Doe" lawsuits in which they name a defendant by IP address, then tell an ISP to find out the person's name. This is all without a subpoena or a warrant, by the way, because ISPs are pushovers. And so the RIAA identifies the person and basically blackmails them:

RIAA: Either you pay us some amount of money or we'll financially destroy you by putting you through expensive litigation.
Grandmother: But I never shared files.
RIAA: We don't care whether you shared files or not; our software says you did, and we refuse to acknowledge that our software could be wrong. Due process could reveal this fact, but you don't have the money for a trial, right?
Grandmother: Right. Ouch, stop kicking me in my hip. That's my bad hip.
RIAA: I'm afraid I can't stop kicking you in the hip. The DMCA allows me to kick you in the hip, so I'm going to do it. Also, I punched your cat and made it into a stew.

One woman, tired of being the object of frivolous litigation and secure in the knowledge that she didn't do anything wrong, is filing a counterclaim against the RIAA. Tanya Andersen "is a 42-year-old single mother of an eight-year-old daughter living in Tualatin, Oregon. Ms. Andersen is disabled and has a limited income from Social Security," says the counterclaim. The counterclaim further alleges that the RIAA's activities violate Oregon's Unlawful Trade Practices Act (ORS 646.605 et seq.), the Oregon Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act (ORS 165.715 et seq.), and the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. 1030).

Finally, someone is challenging the sketchy tactics of the RIAA. And it's significant that her lawyer chose to use Oregon's RICO Act, in part, to justify the counterclaim: RICO Acts were enacted for prosecuting mobsters. And that's precisely what RIAA is: the mafia, but legalized. They use the same strong-arm extortion tactics, and if you don't like them, then we'll inflict (financial) damage upon you. Hopefully, Ms. Andersen's example will spur other people to take the RIAA to court rather than give in to the mafia-like tactics of the RIAA's Settlement Support Center.

[Via Slashdot.]