Michigan law passed requiring MediaSentry to have PI license

The RIAA's campaign against filesharers follows a standard procedure: find a computer offering files for download, get a court to force the ISP or organization that provided the computer's IP address to reveal the computer's owner, and then sue the owner.

The group has contracted with MediaSentry to do the work of identifying the infringing computers, but that company's methods have been called into question in a number of states that have licensing requirements for private investigators that include the computer-based snooping required to gather the data.

Michigan was one such state and, if there was any doubt about the licensing issue there, it's gone now: the state passed a law that specifically calls for computer forensics groups to be licensed.