Grandmother Takes On The RIAA; Won't Pay For Grandson's Actions

Legal Issues

from the prove-it dept

We’ve tried to highlight this in the past, but not many people are discussing one of the major problems with the RIAA’s sue-by-IP address approach. An IP address doesn’t tell you who was actually using the computer and set up a file sharing network to share unauthorized files. Now, one grandmother is fighting back against the RIAA for that very reason. Her grandson used file sharing networks, but she’s the one who gets in trouble for it. AOL cut off her internet access and the RIAA plans to file a lawsuit against her, but have made her the same generous offer they make to everyone: pay up $3,500 and they’ll leave her alone. However, this grandmother will have no part of it. She says that, first of all, she doesn’t have the money, and it’s not fair to hold her responsible for her grandson’s actions. In fact, she had already gotten him to stop downloading songs, but no one realized that the file sharing system was still running in the background. Still, it does highlight the fact that the RIAA’s tactic of simply suing by IP address means they’re going after people who didn’t actually break the law.