The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on behalf of its member companies, and the music publishers, filed a motion late Wednesday afternoon for a hearing to find Aimster (a.k.a. Madster) in contempt on the grounds that it has willfully disregarded an order issued on November 4, 2002. In that order, the court directed Aimster to immediately prevent its users from uploading and downloading copyrighted works or shut down its operations until it can do so.
In its motion, the RIAA asks the court to hold John Deep, Aimster's creator, in contempt of the preliminary injunction ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Aspen on October 31, 2002. As a remedy, the RIAA asks the court to appoint a compliance officer to take the Aimster system off-line, if necessary. The RIAA’s motion also suggests that the court directly fine John Deep his daily profits ($1,500 per day) with the money going to the court.
“We regret having to take this step, but Mr. Deep has given us no other option,” said Matt Oppenheim, Senior Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs for the RIAA. “He is fully capable of complying with the order and has apparently decided to flout the court’s authority.”
Did they think that they were above the law? Nah, I don't really believe that. They probably thought that the fines for contempt of court would be less than the income that the system is bringing in, so they're still making money. It sounds like the RIAA wants to see to it that it doens't happen that way. They're really playing hardball these days, and the courts seem to be feeding them everything they want... I guess we'll see what happens.
For more on the original court injunction, see the Curlio.com article here.
