RIAA Strengthens Their Legal Team with Sony BMG’s Former Chief Anti-Piracy Lawyer

In spite of their statements the RIAA seems more concerned with improving their arsenal of lawyers

The RIAA is like an old pistoleer with an itchy trigger finger. They may have announced giving up the aggressive suing policy but they have also provided enough reason for us to be a bit skeptical about that.

Perhaps you still remember Jennifer Pariser (photo) and her testimony for the RIAA against Jammie Thomas. Well, the RIAA certainly didn’t forget her and, moreover, the trade group saw in her, the kind of intransigent person they can always use to get the job done. Briefly, the RIAA liked so much her already notorious phrase "Making a copy of a purchased song is just a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy,'" that they offered Pariser a high position in their office – Senior Vice President of Litigation and Legal Affairs. Until now Pariser was Senior Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Litigation and Anti-Piracy Sony BMG.

This is like signing a peace treaty and then going ahead with buying heavy artillery since the industry watchdog was so anxious to hire someone with an obvious anti-consumer stand to lead their legal team. As afterdawn.com points out there are still torrent tracker sites, P2P software developers, satellite radio providers, ISPs and streaming audio companies to consider when we think of who might become the RIAA’s future targets.