NEWS: Lawyer Fights Back Against RIAA

In what seems to be the current trend of late, the RIAA is being met with resistance to their pleas for money from supposed perpetrators in the war against music piracy. Barry and Cathy Merchant were recently sent a letter from the RIAA claiming that they had infringed copyright law. They were given the option to settle for $3750 (they don't get the student discount). Instead of complying blindly, their lawyer Merl Ledford has written a counterpoint to the RIAA claiming that not only is the RIAA's threat letter unfounded, it is also illegal in a court of law. According to the RIAA, the Merchants had been downloading and uploading a lot of gangster rap, which according to Ledford is preposterous considering the Merchants are a middle aged, conservative couple with no possession of music anything like that. Beyond that, the letter has about as much validity as an insurance company attempting you to use their services. You can read Ledford's letter here. As expected, the RIAA has dropped their case against the couple.