RIAA: disagreements vex us

Back in September, the world learned that the RIAA was trying to have a lawyer branded as vexatious because, erm, he disagreed with their behaviour.

Now, they've gone a step further: they're trying to have Whitney Harper branded as vexatious, too. The cause of the label's vexation? She has refused to pay a demand for alleged illegal downloading and exercised her right to have the claim heard by a jury.

There's a precise legal definition of vexatious - the RIAA, though, seems to think that it can just use it whenever anyone annoys them slightly. You find yourself wondering if their lawyers are actual legally trained people, or if all the cases are being handled by Mitch Bainwol, a guy who set his PVR up to get the last run of Boston Legal and still intends to watch them one day, and a well-thumbed 1973 edition of Readers Digest's Your Guide To The Law.

[Thanks to Gareth J for the tip]