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Magistrate judge suggests sanctions against RIAA lawyers |
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Written by Daniel
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Wednesday, 30 January 2008 |
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Magistrate judge suggests sanctions against RIAA lawyers By Eric Bangeman | Published: January 30, 2008 - 11:11AM CT
ARS Technica The RIAA's habit of roping numerous unrelated defendants into a single "John Doe" lawsuit has drawn the attention of a federal magistrate—and not in a good way. In the case of Arista v. Does 1-27, a lawsuit targeting students at the University of Maine, Magistrate Judge Margaret J. Kravchuk suggests that the court look into imposing Rule 11 sanctions on the RIAA's legal team.
In the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 11 covers, among other things, representations to the court. Section 11(b) requires that "factual contentions" or denials thereof contained in motions, pleadings, or other submissions have or will have "evidentiary support."
Where this may get the RIAA's legal team in trouble is its joining 27 defendants together in the same John Doe lawsuit. In its complaint, the record labels asserted that the Does violated the same law in the same manner using the same tools via the same ISP. The labels argue, therefore, that their "right to relief arises out of the same series of transactions or occurrences, and there are questions of law or fact common to all Defendants such that joinder is warranted and appropriate here." [More...] [Comments...] |
