Software developer vows to fight MPAA
Wired Magazine has a very interesting story in its recently unveiled August issue which caught my attention. An excerpt:
And though Hogan has tried to shrug that off, saying "I'm a pretty normal guy" he is a hero. The entertainment industry will continue trying to intimidate its customers - and abusing the U.S. legal system - until someone stands up and says "Enough! We're tired of being unfairly shafted by big corporations seeking big profits and we're not going to take it anymore!"
The difference between Hogan and others is that he has the financial resources to fight the entertainment industry in court. Hogan is refusing donations, wisely telling people who are eager to help to give their contribution to the Electronic Frontier Foundation instead.
(The EFF, which NPI strongly supports, is an organization that fights for Americans' freedoms in the digital world. They have long been on the frontlines fighting the entertainment industry).
The RIAA and the MPAA are out of control. Their lawyers have aggressively targeted people who don't even own computers. To the industry suits on Wall Street, it doesn't matter who you are or whether you even shared music or movies online.
Once they set their sights on you, they expect to see a settlement check from you. And of course, most of the Americans who have been targeted have settled, because they don't have the financial resources for a drawn out legal battle.
Shawn Hogan has refused to settle. That's why he is a hero. He's standing up on behalf of millions of other Americans, and we can't thank him enough for his willingness to take on these profit-driven shills in court.
Last November, Shawn Hogan received an unsettling call: A lawyer representing Universal Pictures and the Motion Picture Association of America informed the 30-year-old software developer that they were suing him for downloading Meet the Fockers over BitTorrent. Hogan was baffled. Not only does he deny the accusation, he says he already owned the film on DVD. The attorney said they would settle for $2,500. Hogan declined.Hogan was quoted by Wired as saying "they’re completely abusing the system....I would spend well into the millions on this [lawsuit]." The magazine titled its report "Shawn Hogan, Hero."
Now he’s embroiled in a surprisingly rare situation – a drawn-out legal fight with the MPAA. The organization and its music cousin, the Recording Industry Association of America, have filed thousands of similar lawsuits between them, but largely because of the legal costs few have been contested and none have gone to trial.
This has left several controversies unresolved, including the lawfulness of how the associations get access to ISP records and whether it’s possible to definitively tie a person to an IP address in the age of Wi-Fi.
And though Hogan has tried to shrug that off, saying "I'm a pretty normal guy" he is a hero. The entertainment industry will continue trying to intimidate its customers - and abusing the U.S. legal system - until someone stands up and says "Enough! We're tired of being unfairly shafted by big corporations seeking big profits and we're not going to take it anymore!"
The difference between Hogan and others is that he has the financial resources to fight the entertainment industry in court. Hogan is refusing donations, wisely telling people who are eager to help to give their contribution to the Electronic Frontier Foundation instead.
(The EFF, which NPI strongly supports, is an organization that fights for Americans' freedoms in the digital world. They have long been on the frontlines fighting the entertainment industry).
The RIAA and the MPAA are out of control. Their lawyers have aggressively targeted people who don't even own computers. To the industry suits on Wall Street, it doesn't matter who you are or whether you even shared music or movies online.
Once they set their sights on you, they expect to see a settlement check from you. And of course, most of the Americans who have been targeted have settled, because they don't have the financial resources for a drawn out legal battle.
Shawn Hogan has refused to settle. That's why he is a hero. He's standing up on behalf of millions of other Americans, and we can't thank him enough for his willingness to take on these profit-driven shills in court.
