Excellent news folks, justice has prevailed over the semi legal financial extortion being carried out by the Cartels.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060713-7257.htmlAn Oklahoma mother, Debbie Foster, was accused by the RIAA of copyright infringement back in November 2004, and her daughter Amanda was added to the complaint in July 2005. According to the RIAA, the Internet account paid for by Debbie Foster was used for file sharing, with an unspecified number of songs downloaded.
The music group offered to settle the case for US$5,000, but Foster decided to take her chances in court. She requested that the RIAA provide specifics such as the dates of the alleged downloading and the files involved. The RIAA failed to provide the requested information and Foster filed a motion for summary judgment. In turn, the RIAA decided to cut its losses and asked the court to withdraw its case. The court approved the RIAA's request, but named Foster the winner and awarded her attorneys fees over the RIAA's objections.
In his opinion, Judge Lee R. West wrote, "because this Court finds that the plaintiffs' voluntary dismissal with prejudice services as a complete adjudication of the issues set forth in their complaint and acts as a bar to further action on their claims, the court concludes the matter has been finally adjudicated in the defendant's favor... [which] represents a judicially sanctioned material alteration in the legal relationship between Deborah Foster and the plaintiffs. Ms. Foster is therefore the prevailing party for purposes of the Copyright Act."
The old trick of bringing a case and ruining the defendants credit with escalating legal fess and running away if the case goes against you has taken a blow here, they are now going to have to pay the defendants legal fees for this whole case, I hope Mrs Foster sues for damages also.
Our respect goes out to Mrs Foster, standing up to the RIAA sponsored extortion campaign and winning took courage
