p2pnet - rss feed: Xmas letter from Patti Santangelo
p2pnet.net:- Hi Jon:
First, a very healthy and happy holiday season to you and all your readers who have been so supportive of our efforts. I say “our,” because the effort is no longer just mine; “efforts” includes everyone who made donations of any sort, my lawyers – Jordan Glass and, before him, Ray Beckerman, and all the people who help them, my children, especially Bobby and Michelle, who are now being attacked themselves for things they allegedly did when they were 12 and 16, and all the other defendants and their attorneys who are also standing up for themselves against the RIAA.
Even our detractors are helping us: the RIAA “shills” who post hateful messages here and elsewhere, and even those who just genuinely disagree - at least they’re opening the dialogue.
I think (and hope) your readers and donors see we’ve made a difference for those of us who’ve been sued by the RIAA: that we can stand up to them, that we can enforce our legal rights; that we have at least the same rights as they do; and, that we should all stand up to them as much as possible.
Now, I’m not being glib or cavalier about “standing up” to the RIAA: I know how much I’m in debt over this, even though I could have settled for their initial demand of $7,500.00 (you’ll be reading some discrepancies about this number, but it was $7,500.00, and not a penny less). I realize other people like me can’t afford lawyers, and that the p2pnet community can’t support every defendant. I’m truly blessed that you have all been willing to take a chance on me, someone you don’t know and have no reason to trust.
I hope you see that your kindness and faith have been worth it. The fact that the RIAA dropped the case against me shows what we’ve been able to accomplish so far.
They dropped it “without prejudice”, which means they can still sue me all over again, but we’re not going to sit still for that and wait to be victimized all over again. I know I was silent for a long time, but there was a purpose for that.
Now they’re attacking my kids, there’s little motivation to do anything other than treat it as a full scale war, just as they’ve done.
Isn’t it interesting how the chairman of Warner’s (I think it was for Warner Canada) own children’s downloading was resolved with a “good talking to” and that he wants to keep the information secret within his family. But the rest of us, accused of stealing from the same company, are sued, publicly humiliated, and brought to our financial knees.
I was asked whether I thought that the holiday season would make them see things more charitably. I think the activities you have seen publicly answer that loudly. While it’s important to remember they have their legal rights, it’s equally important to remember we also have ours.
Just after Christmas, I’ll be opening an online petition to send to the US Congress. I’ll keep you informed about the URL and other information, and I hope you’ll join with me again to right this societal wrong. It’s wrong at so many levels - I think Jordan wrote it best, so paraphrasing him:
It’s our country; let’s take it back!
A healthy and safe holiday season to all and, again, on behalf of myself and my children, thank you all for the generosity of spirit, kindness, and financial and personal support you have shown me all year long.
Patti Santangelo
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
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December 25th, 2006 at 1:32 am
Glad she is doing so well. I am glad that they FINALLY had someone stand up to them. Now with them legally attacking her kids…that is the very WORST thing they could have ever done. Now she will attack them with a vengance!
I really hope this family comes out on top and finally show what the RIAA is…a bunch of greedy people that want to have complete and absolute control over any music that was ever copyrighted.
Hopefully, this may at least set some sort of precedant and stop the madness that the RIAA has gotten away with for so long. Good luck Patti.
December 26th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
I was sued and did not have the money to fight either. I would have loved to have my day in court and epose this blackmail. But there is a reason you cannot get to trial. This because they would not prove what they claim. So it becomes the issue of starve you out fast, force you to pay them money using the court costs as leverage. I am now in an agreement not to ask that anyone be charged with a crime and I can no longer make a complaint of a crime. And there were crimes commited. Understand the seriousness when people are forced into settlement not to report a crime. When I confronted the justice depatment with this confidental settlement, they just say it is a civil settlement. They take theissue of concealment of crime in confidental agreement as statndard operating proceedure in these type of suits. So yes, we do need to take back our country from a bunch of thugs who are not only in private industry but in government as well. Remember, both government anfd private industry endorse this fraudulant lawsuit for money. Like the King of old, there is not much difference between the King taking the people’s money or private industry taking the money with the permission of the government(King).
December 26th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
Thank you Patti for leading the way
RaeJ Schwartz
December 27th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
“Hopefully, this may at least set some sort of precedant and stop the madness that the RIAA has gotten away with for so long. Good luck Patti. ”
As a history of their failures shows, they will cut and run before
any real precedent is set. They will also ( strangely enough, with
the judges full cooperation ) escape without having to be
responsible for any of the victims fees, accrued by having
to prove their innocence.
December 28th, 2006 at 11:59 am
“strangely enough, with the judges full cooperation”
100 percent true. A good point for the naive, the believers in the great “justice” myth.
This is why a recent(December 12, 2006) New York time Editorial page story had this title:
JUDGES FOR SALE
and commenced with this line:
HOW SPECIAL INTERESTS ARE BUYING UP THE NATION’S JUSTICE SYSTEM.
The judge in the Santangelo case can prove he is decent, not for sale and not a betrayer of his oath by throwing out the case against her children and awarding her all her legal expenses.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com
January 31st, 2007 at 6:46 pm
you have all my support and my comprehension.
should the money of the rights go to the musicians, I could also understand, but here there are only some majors trying to steal money from us!!! I think that 30 euros for a music cd is a theft!
keep on.