Perhaps granny was dishing out illicit mp3s prior to her demise. Not so, says her daughter Robin Chianumba, who says her mother didn't want PCs in the house, and had absolutely zero experience operating them.

A few months after the legal campaign began, the RIAA decided to begin sending letters to suspected file traders prior to filing suit, in an attempt to get them to settle outside the legal system ("you pay us some money and we make this little problem go away"). By doing so, they hoped to avoid making stupid mistakes such as this one.

However, when Chianumba received such a letter from the trade group, she sent back a copy of her mother's death certificate in hopes of dissuading them from going ahead with the suit. The RIAA didn't heed the death certification, but it has apparently been convinced to its satisfaction that Mrs. Walton has passed beyond the earthly veil.

A Recording Industry Association of America spokesman said Thursday that Walton was likely not the smittenedkitten it's searching for.

"Our evidence gathering and our subsequent legal actions all were initiated weeks and even months ago," said RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy. "We will now, of course, obviously dismiss this case."

One would hope that they would be more diligent in ensuring that they have targeted the right people. Unfortunately, their history does little to inspire such hopes. Apparently the RIAA does not mind being thought of as a laughingstock.

written by Eric Bangeman
found on arstechnica.com