In a recent issue, I told you about the latest round of lawsuits filed against alledged music pirates. One such suit was filed against Gertrude Walton, of Beckley, West Virginia, one of the worst sort of music pirates, according to the RIAA. By sharing 700 songs on the Internet, she was impoverishing artists and depriving the music industry of its rightfully earned profits.
The only problem with the RIAA's accusations and lawsuit is that Mrs. Walton is actually deceased and, even during her golden years, never ever owned a computer. Not only that...according to her daughter, she hated computers.
However the RIAA's embarrassment doesn't end there. The daughter said that she had sent a copy of her mother's death certificate to record company lawyers in response to an initial warning letter, over a week before the suit was filed. The RIAA says it will dismiss the lawsuit against Mrs. Walton.
While Mrs. Walton may have been the oldest person sued by the RIAA, the youngest was a 12 year old girl who was sued for having one MP3 of her favorite TV program on her hard drive. Her working class parents in a housing project in New York were forced to pay two thousand dollars in a settlement.
Only the unborn, it seems, have yet to receive an infringement suit.
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