The amnesty offer from the music industry to its file-swapping fans will not shield them from lawsuits, according to a new legal complaint filed in California.
Touted as an olive branch to file traders, the so-called Clean Slate agreement could result in legal claims from parties not represented by the Recording Industry Association of America, which announced the program last week, a lawyer said.
"When you read between the headlines, the legal documents do not provide any real amnesty from lawsuits and do not provide any real clean slate," said Ira Rothken, an attorney who is representing Eric Parke, a private citizen who filed the claim. "The legal document does not even provide for a release of claims against suits brought by RIAA members."
An RIAA spokesman brushed off the legal challenge in an e-mail on Wednesday.
"No good deed goes unpunished, apparently," the spokesman said. "It's also unfortunate that a lawyer would try to prevent others from getting the assurances they want that they will not be sued."
On Wednesday, the RIAA released a study by Peter D. Hart Research Associates that showed that 52 percent of music consumers are supportive of the industry’s legal action against file sharers. The researchers surveyed 803 consumers ages 10 and over on Sept. 4-6, just before the lawsuits were announced.
The RIAA unveiled the amnesty program on Monday, at the same time it announced that it was suing 261 individual music fans who, it alleged, had offered copyright songs to others using peer-to-peer networks.
The Clean Slate program is designed to give repentant music swappers peace of mind, said the music trade group, which represents the five major record labels. Those who want to participate can sign an agreement pledging to destroy all the illegal music on their computer and promise never to do it again, and in exchange, the RIAA will not sue them.
The offer was not open to the 261 people who were named in the complaints.
Parke, who works in the mortgage lending business, is not a peer-to-peer user himself, according to Rothken. But he decided to file the lawsuit "to assist those who may be tricked by these deceptive business practices," the lawyer said.
The case was filed in Marin County Superior Court on Tuesday on behalf of the general public of the state of California.
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,60376,00.html
Touted as an olive branch to file traders, the so-called Clean Slate agreement could result in legal claims from parties not represented by the Recording Industry Association of America, which announced the program last week, a lawyer said.
"When you read between the headlines, the legal documents do not provide any real amnesty from lawsuits and do not provide any real clean slate," said Ira Rothken, an attorney who is representing Eric Parke, a private citizen who filed the claim. "The legal document does not even provide for a release of claims against suits brought by RIAA members."
An RIAA spokesman brushed off the legal challenge in an e-mail on Wednesday.
"No good deed goes unpunished, apparently," the spokesman said. "It's also unfortunate that a lawyer would try to prevent others from getting the assurances they want that they will not be sued."
On Wednesday, the RIAA released a study by Peter D. Hart Research Associates that showed that 52 percent of music consumers are supportive of the industry’s legal action against file sharers. The researchers surveyed 803 consumers ages 10 and over on Sept. 4-6, just before the lawsuits were announced.
The RIAA unveiled the amnesty program on Monday, at the same time it announced that it was suing 261 individual music fans who, it alleged, had offered copyright songs to others using peer-to-peer networks.
The Clean Slate program is designed to give repentant music swappers peace of mind, said the music trade group, which represents the five major record labels. Those who want to participate can sign an agreement pledging to destroy all the illegal music on their computer and promise never to do it again, and in exchange, the RIAA will not sue them.
The offer was not open to the 261 people who were named in the complaints.
Parke, who works in the mortgage lending business, is not a peer-to-peer user himself, according to Rothken. But he decided to file the lawsuit "to assist those who may be tricked by these deceptive business practices," the lawyer said.
The case was filed in Marin County Superior Court on Tuesday on behalf of the general public of the state of California.
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,60376,00.html