RIAA Facing Hacking Lawsuit

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

04 October 2005

The tables may soon be turning for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as it emerged this week that one of the "John Doe" defendants against which the organisation has filed lawsuits, is planning to fight back.

Tanya Andersen, a 41 year old disabled single mother, has denied that she has ever engaged in file-sharing activity, and has further filed a countersuit against the RIAA over its data collection methods.

Charges being brought by Ms Andersen against the Association include fraud, invasion of privacy, electronic trespass, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and negligent misrepresentation.

In her countersuit, she alleges that the RIAA hired a third party firm to hack into the personal computers of internet users in order to obtain private information, and that the record industry body then provided the information to another firm, which employed illegal and deceptive practices in an attempt to secure settlements from those accused of file sharing.

She also argued that the - illegally obtained - information was flawed, as it suggested that she had been downloading 'gangster rap' music files at 4.24 in the morning, when in fact she had never downloaded music from the internet, disliked gangster rap, and would not have been awake at that hour.

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