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Universal lawyers call MediaSentry investigators, not experts

9 July 2008 18:08 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 4 comments

Earlier this week we told you about correspondence between the agency contracted to investigate file sharers by the RIAA and the Michigan Department of Labor. In the letter, published on Ray Beckerman's website, MediaSentry lawyers argued that their activities don't require a Private Investigator's license because they merely act as technical experts, analyzing publicly available information. As it turns out the RIAA themselves have made exactly the opposite argument in court to block Mr. Beckerman's efforts to question MediaSentry's employees or obtain details of their operation.

On his blog, Recording Industry vs. The People, he points out that lawyers for Universal Music Group (UMG) specifically claimed on three separate occasions that MediaSentry was not being relied on for any technical expertise, but were in fact only being utilized as investigators. An excerpt from a November, 2006 filing UMG lawyers wrote the following.

Specifically, MediaSentry has not been designated as an expert witness in this case and is not offering any expert opinions. Rather, the MediaSentry investigator who detected the infringement at issue, Tom Mizzone, is a fact witness, having downloaded information from defendant's Kazaa share folder that any other Kazaa user could have downloaded.

They same filing also describes MediaSentry's role in the suit as "conducting on-line investigations into the illegal infringement of plaintiff's copyrighted works."

It's worth noting that the case which these documents were drawn from is just now drawing to a close, with UMG having long since cleared Ms. Lindor and finally admitting they have no evidence of whose computer was actually used to download the files in question. So much for MediaSentry's experts.

And let's also not forget that earlier this year MediaSentry changed their website, which used to identify them as investigators. The following was removed from the site of their parent company Safenet shortly after they were accused of conducting investigations illegally in the state of New York.

The bottom line is this. Either MediaSentry is an investigation firm that must be licensed, and therefore subject to government regulation, or they're expert witnesses whose methods are subject to scrutiny by defendants. It's time to pick one and deal with the consequences.

Permalink to this article | Topic: Lawsuits & Legislation

Judge shoots down RIAA request to sanction New York lawyer (13 October 2009)

Update: RIAA fires MediaSentry (5 January 2009)

Ray Beckerman urges defense lawyers to go after MediaSentry (13 August 2008)

Central Michigan University asks regulators to shut down RIAA investigators (6 August 2008)

Defendant says RIAA damages unconstitutional (29 July 2008)

MediaSentry investigated over North Carolina RIAA lawsuits (14 July 2008)

MediaSentry denies being investigators to avoid licensing (7 July 2008)

Ray Beckerman denies Impeding Universal Music investigation (5 July 2008)

Virgin denies it will disconnect 'pirates' from the Internet (3 July 2008)

Portugal now has its first convicted file-sharer (29 June 2008)

Judge once again affirms award against RIAA in Tanya Andersen case (26 June 2008)

Music industry targets radio station piracy - demands more royalties (23 June 2008)

EFF shoots down "making available" argument in Jammie Thomas case (23 June 2008)

RIAA prepares to drop long running P2P suit for a lack of evidence (20 June 2008)

EFF targets RIAA's 'making available' claims (14 January 2008)

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Discuss this article!
xSModder (Junior Member) 9 July 2008 18:58
owned. [ + quote]
Notcow (Newbie) 9 July 2008 19:49
Indeed,thoroughly pwnt. Lust,Gluttony,Greed,Sloth,Envy,and Pride... Both the 7 Deadly Sins,and most anti-piracy groups. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 9 July 2008 20:11
iluvendo (AfterDawn Addict) 10 July 2008 3:17
*Quote:* The bottom line is this. Either MediaSentry is an investigation firm that must be licensed, and therefore subject to government regulation, or they're expert witnesses whose methods are subject to scrutiny by defendants. It's time to pick one and deal with the consequences. But jeez judge, can't I have it both ways ? [ + quote]
numscull (Newbie) 10 July 2008 14:13
Talk about an identity crisis! MediaSentry can't decide what nor who they are, but they are quick to label other people pirates! [ + quote]