Reopening old wounds. The RIAA has filed a new suit against two of Patricia Santangelo's children, hoping to find an easier path to a settlement than tussling with one of the most famous anti-RIAA moms any further. No giant surprise as Cary Sherman essentially said the RIAA would do exactly that, turn on Santangelo's children, if only Santangelo would "point them in the right direction".

Given the ridiculous number of filesharing lawsuits running round in the wild, it's hard to keep track. Just to catch up; The case of Patricia Santangelo sticks out among the masses, as she was at first unrepresented by counsel and, as a result, gained a significant amount of internet attention and donations to a legal fund. She temporarily retained the counsel of Ray Beckerman, a favorite of ours here at TDMW but, unable to afford her mounting legal bills (last estimate at almost $30k dollars), she later returned to court in her own defense. The case was covered by Today, CBS' Early Show, and CNN, the latter of which saw Miles O'Brien give the RIAA's Cary Sherman a sound tounge lashing on live TV, and in which Cary Sherman made his now foreshaddowing comment that the RIAA would bring suit against those responsible if only Santangelo would tell them who to sue.

When contacted by TDMW Ray Beckerman said, "I think it is a disgrace to be suing children, or to be suing young adults for something they may have done when they were children," adding, "This is highly aggressive, but that is what the RIAA's lawyers are... overly aggressive. I don't know the facts so I can't really say what the RIAA's chances of success are. My impression as an outside observer is that they have absolutely no case against these children either."

The case will proceed in Federal court in White Plains, NJ. According to the AP, The RIAA is requesting an injunction, unspecified damages for each download and court costs.