RIAA sues dead woman

In what could be classified as its biggest cock-up yet, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued a dead woman for swapping music files.

The Associated Press reported that the RIAA identified Gertrude Walton as a prolific file sharer known as "smittenedkitten". Accusing her of illegally trading music over the internet, the lawsuit was apparently filed more than a month after the 83-year-old woman died in December.

Her daughter, Robin Chianumba, also pointed out that Walton, who was the sole defendant in a federal lawsuit that claimed she'd shared more than 700 songs through P2P networks, hated computers and objected to having them in the house.

"[She] wouldn't know how to turn on a computer," Mrs Chianumba is reported to have told AP.

The dead woman's daughter had also faxed a copy of her mother's death certificate to RIAA officials several days before the lawsuit was filed,in response to a letter from the company regarding the upcoming legal filing.

"I am pretty sure she is not going to leave Greenwood Memorial Park (where she is buried) to attend the hearing," AP quotes Chianumba as saying. The RIAA is reported to be dropping the case.

Meanwhile a backlash in Europe is growing against what are seen as the heavy-handed measures being taken by the entertainment industry. After the enormous fine levied last week against a teacher in France for file sharing, dozens of French musicians, intellectuals and politicians are criticising what they call a "repressive" crackdown against those who download music illegally over the internet.

A campaign led by weekly paper, Le Nouvel Observateur published an open letter from French musicians that said: "We denounce this repressive and disproportionate policy, whose victims are just a few scapegoats.

"Like at least eight million other French people, we also have downloaded music online and are also potential criminals. We demand a stop to these ridiculous legal pursuits."