Teen takes on the recording industry, alledges collusion, extortion

According to an Associated Press report, a 16-year-old boy being sued by five record companies accused the recording industry on Tuesday of violating antitrust laws, conspiring to defraud the courts and making extortionate threats.

Robert Santangelo, who was 11 when the alleged piracy occurred, denied ever sharing music and said it’s impossible to prove that he did. Before suing Robert, the industry sued his mother and when she refused to settle, dropped the suit and charged both him and his 15 year old sister.

Santangelo also claims that the record companies, which have filed more than 18,000 piracy lawsuits in federal courts, “have engaged in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud the courts of the United States.” The suit also alleges that the companies, “ostensibly competitors in the recording industry, are a cartel acting collusively in violation of the antitrust laws and public policy” by bringing the piracy cases jointly and using the same agency “to make extortionate threats … to force defendants to pay.”
Read more at: According to an Associated Press report, a 16-year-old boy being sued by five record companies accused the recording industry on Tuesday of violating antitrust laws, conspiring to defraud the courts and making extortionate threats.

Robert Santangelo, who was 11 when the alleged piracy occurred, denied ever sharing music and said it’s impossible to prove that he did. Before suing Robert, the industry sued his mother and when she refused to settle, dropped the suit and charged both him and his 15 year old sister.

Santangelo also claims that the record companies, which have filed more than 18,000 piracy lawsuits in federal courts, “have engaged in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud the courts of the United States.” The suit also alleges that the companies, “ostensibly competitors in the recording industry, are a cartel acting collusively in violation of the antitrust laws and public policy” by bringing the piracy cases jointly and using the same agency “to make extortionate threats … to force defendants to pay.”
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