January 4th, 2009
RIAA dumps its primary evidence collector
The Recording Industry Association has dropped MediaSentry, an outfit that scans the Internet for folks allegedly uploading copyrighted music.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the RIAA quietly dropped MediaSentry, a company that provided the RIAA most of its lawsuit firepower. The Journal makes the leap that the RIAA’s MediaSentry move is an indicator of how the organization will be less lawsuit happy going forward. Last month, the RIAA said it would ease off mass lawsuits.
However, the RIAA’s breakup with MediaSentry may not be an indicator of a kinder-in-the-courtroom organization. Why? The Journal notes in the last paragraph of its story that the RIAA (all resources) has hired DtecNet Software ApS to replace MediaSentry.
In other words, the RIAA is just swapping software providers. The jury is still out on whether the RIAA is stepping back from mass lawsuits.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Smart Planet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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