Thursday, July 16, 2009

Michigan agency drops MediaSentry investigation because no evidence MediaSentry had been "paid for such services"

Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Growth has dropped its investigation of MediaSentry due to the absence of evidence that MediaSentry had been paid for its services, in Kruger v. MediaSentry.

The agency's letter read:

While it appears that the activity alleged in the complaint whereby Media Sentry's action to detect and locate internet users who may be downloading music requires a license under the Private Investigators Licensure Act. there is insufficient evidence collected in the investigation that proves that Media Sentry was paid for such services


June 12, 2009, letter closing investigation because of absence of evidence MediaSentry had been paid for its services

[Ed. note. ????? This is one of the fishiest things I have ever seen. Shame on whatever DLEG official is responsible for this. -R.B.]

Commentary & discussion:

p2pnet.net
p2pnet.net (7/17)






Keywords: lawyer digital copyright law online internet law legal download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie independent label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs intellectual property portable music player

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What rhymes with John Conyers?

Marc W. Bourgeois said...

Can trial testimony of recording company officials or MediaSentry officials be used to determine the issue of payment? I don't know if it was explicitly stated, but it certainly was inferred (as if anyone had any doubt MediaSentry was being paid for these services).

Albert said...

Guess if I ever need any Private Detective services, I should hope I need them in Michigan, where it looks like based on their board I can get them for free. I guess Private Detectives must not seek money there, otherwise how else could they reach that position. I know in my state you better have cash in hand or no detective for you, and I would think that is something they could take judicial notice of.

I have heard of pro-bono Lawyers, but this is the first I have heard of a pro-bono detective.

I wonder why they did not subpoena them and ask them if they got any money.

Albert

Anonymous said...

No evidence was found that Media Sentry was paid for their services, but I bet we could find SOMEONE in the DLEG who was paid for theirs...

Jadeic said...

Can someone over in Michigan lend the Department of Energy, Labour and Economic Growth a long stick with which to lift the stones under which they will find the RIAA lurking with all the evidence they need of MediaSenty’s payment for its ’services’. Can they really believe that they did it pro bono!

Dave

Anonymous said...

There's no smokescreen -- just plain and obvious nonsense. One could find solace in that, since nobody will be convinced of anything by this.

But you know, I've never heard it claimed that for-profit companies deliver their services for free. First time! So it's a surprising sort of nonsense here.

XYZZY

derivative said...

XYZZY:

Google delivers many of its services for free.

Maybe MediaSentry does it the same way -- they make their money off the ads viewed by the RIAA goons when they are using MediaSentry's site to do their dirty work :)

On a more serious note, if I were in Michigan, I would be screaming to high heaven about this.

On the other hand, I probably would never live in Michigan because of some of their other legal attitudes. A few years back, when a couple of teachers were trying to not pay union dues because they didn't believe in collective bargaining, the Michigan supreme court basically ruled that they could opt out of all the union activites except collective bargaining. In a stunning twist on a revolutionary rallying cry, the esteemed Michigan jurists reasoned that "representation without taxation" was unfair.

Anonymous said...

I am from the metro detroit area and with the way things have been going around here it does not surprise me at all. After seeing the number of people getting the boot for this type of behavior i tend to think that all of our politicians are corrupted in some manner down to the local level(i always use to suspect it but now we all have lots of proof). If someone figures out what elected official made this BS happen please let me know so that i may make sure everyone i come into contact with will understand how corrupt that individual is. If these people are allowed to continue to make the laws then we may never be able to fully rid ourselves of this type of gross injustice.

Steve

raybeckerman said...

I've rejected several comments because they contained accusations of "corruption".

While I have no reason to doubt that that was the case, I for legal reasons am reluctant to see that accusation made without some substantiation.

raybeckerman said...

Yet another comment rejected because it speculated as to corruption.

I must admit it certainly is very very fishy.