After the RIAA finished sending out a new batch of 503 "pre-litigation letters" to 58 different universities around the USA, offering to let students settle copyright infringement claims "at a discounted rate" before those claims go to trial, the group learned it was on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit. The development hopes to make a class out of those "who were sued or were threatened with sued by Defendants for file-sharing, downloading or other similar activities, who have not actually engaged in actual copyright infringement."
Single mom Tanya Andersen, a defendant in a previous lawsuit brought by the RIAA, sued the RIAA for malicious prosecution after her case was dismissed with prejudice (it cannot be refiled at a later date). Her attorney filed court documents in an Oregon federal court on Wednesday that seek to elevate the case to class action status (the first time that a judge has been asked such a request for such a case). In the complaint, Andersen alleges that the RIAA "has engaged in a coordinated enterprise to pursue a scheme of threatening and intimidating litigation in an attempt to maintain its music distribution monopoly." Andersen alleges that the RIAA has violated the RICO racketeering act and charges the organization with malicious prosecution. She is also going after the RIAA's investigative arm, SafeNet, formerly known as MediaSentry. This group allegedly "conducts illegal, flawed and negligent investigations for the RIAA and its controlled member companies."
News source: Ars Technica
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