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p2p news / p2pnet: The Big Four record labels are escalating
their attack on Patti Santangelo, the New York mother who's so far the
only person to stand up to them. On Tuesday judge Mark D. Fox presided over a discovery hearing in Elektra v Santangelo
and, "Elektra's attorneys have answered Patti's objections to their
discovery questions," her lawyer, Jordan Glass, told p2pnet. "They've
started to push back aggressively. They're going after her children -
and this time not directly so they can get around certain protections
the children have. They had information about the children that wasn't
public, or wasn't supposed to be public, and it's of great concern not
only that that they were able to obtain it, but also that they wanted
it. "They're not treating this as a single
case or as seeking a verdict for $3,500.00. They're treating this as a
symbol for how the other cases will go and I hope everyone who reads
this will recognize the serious impact this case could have on their
children." The RIAA has spent enough to feed
a small country on trying to make the world believe it's owners, the
multi-billion-dollar Big Four labels, are being "devastated" (their
word) by people who share music online, that contracted artists are
suffering and that support workers are being driven into extreme
financial hardship. They make the completely
unsupportable assertion that people using the p2p networks to share
files would otherwise have paid $1 or more to buy the song from an
online corporate music site or an offline music store. And
they claim file sharers are criminals and thieves, although nothing has
been stolen and at worst, file sharing, a purely civil, not criminal,
matter, involves copyright infringement. Patti is said to have shared music, an allegation she flatly denies, and when the Big Four's RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) tried to get her to buy them off, she would have none of it, instead electing to act as her own lawyer against the labels. When p2pnet spoke to her last September, "Assuming your case ends up in court, how far are you willing to go?" - we asked her. "I'm willing to take it as far as I have to to prevent other innocent people being dragged into frivolous lawsuits," she replied. "It's wrong." She
also said, "I have three teenage children who love music and I think
that's a great thing. I can't count the amount of concert tickets and
CDs that I've purchased over the past few years, and I still have two
younger ones who are showing the same love for music. I find it hard to
believe that file sharing could impact record companies to the point of
devastation. There are some people, apparently, who copy and sell CDs,
and that is piracy and they are the ones that need to be stopped." Thanks to the generosity of p2pnet readers, Patti has been able to retain Glass and is now going through the process of collecting the materials she needs to defend herself against the Big Four, Warner Music (US), Vivendi Universal (France), Sony BMG (Japan, Germany) and EMI (Britain). "This
case is jeopardizing the actual well-being of children and you're going
to see problems develop which will be far worse than the mere
'shakedown for money' ['settlements']," says Glass emphatically. "As
just one example, it was deeply unsettling for us to learn just how
much personal, non-public information the RIAA had collected on Patti's
children. "All parents should be concerned and I think people have to know the implications. "It's
one thing to sue children directly. They get a lawyer, rules are
established, the court might offer certain protections, etc, but when
it's done through a back door - suing a parent to get information about
a child - the child has no protections, especially when the plaintiff
doesn't even have the decency to not publish personal information about
the child. "This, then, is going to become
the new feeding ground for those who seek to exploit children, whether
through improper contact or identity theft. "This
new class of child - scared and facing the federal legal system, with
few protections and their personal contact and identification
information, as well as their posted feelings, fears, desires and
thoughts - is now exposed to the world for all to see. "And exploit." Glass is working virtually for expenses and the lion's share of the $7,862.62 donated so far is going on collecting and collating the discovery materials and other documents necessary for Patti's defense. But a lot more will be needed, so please contribute whatever you can to the Fight Goliath campaign, bearing in mind Patti has taken on the international corporate music industry as much for other parents and children around the world who might find themselves in her position, as for herself and her children. You can make a PayPal donation by clicking the PayPal button, or you can send a cheque or money to: Patti Santangelo
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