Source: http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 18:20:52+00:00

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Thanks to Ben Sheffner for making these briefs available.
The brief filed by Joel Tenenbaum, and the amicus curiae brief of CVN, filed in opposition to the RIAA's petition for 'mandamus or prohibition' in SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum, are now available online.
In SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum, a group of 14 news organizations, including the Associated Press and the New York Times, have filed an amicus curiae brief opposing the RIAA's petition to prevent internet streaming of the upcoming oral argument.
The other news organizations joining in the brief were Courtroom Television Network, Dow Jones & Co., Gannett Co. Inc., The Hearst Corp., Incisive Media, National Public Radio, NBC Universal Inc., Radio-Television News Directors Association, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The E.W. Scripps Co., Tribune Co., and Washington Post Digital.
NBC Universal, one of the amici, is an affiliate of UMG Recordings, one of the plaintiffs.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed an amicus curiae brief in opposition of the RIAA's petition to prevent internet streaming of the upcoming oral argument in SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum.
They were joined in their brief by Public.Resource.org, Media Access Project, Internet Archive, Free Press, California First Amendment Coalition, and lawyer Ben Sheffner.
Here's another good article on the New Hampshire case, UMG Recordings v. Roy.
For those of you who may think that District Judge Gertner has finally recognized that the RIAA's cases are not based on sufficient evidence, sound legal theory, or proper pleading, I would just want to let you know that she continues to enter default judgments, based on the RIAA's written submissions.
I have never reported on default judgments, and do not intend to start doing it now, but if anyone wants to check for themselves, they can go to Capitol Records v. Alaujan, D. Mass., 03-11661, which is the consolidated case for all of Massachusetts, and see for themselves.
It is mind boggling to me that a Judge, after learning that the Massachusetts State Police have preliminarily determined that the evidence upon which the RIAA's cases rest was obtained illegally, would enter judgments based on that evidence without even conducting a hearing. It is likewise mind boggling to me that any judge would accept a default judgment application based on (a) evidence that would be inadmissible in court, and (b) a cookie cutter pleading which patently fails the test of Bell Atlantic v. Twombly.
Needless to say, I am of the view that District Judge Janet Bond Arterton (D. Conn.) got it right in Atlantic Recording v. Brennan, and former District Judge Rudi M. Brewster (S.D. California) got it right in Interscope Records v. Rodriguez, when they held that the RIAA's default judgment applications are improper, and rejected them.
Cox Communications' new traffic-shaping plan is drawing harsh criticism from some net neutrality advocates.
"It is certainly a horrible idea and it's not the way the Internet ought to work," said Robb Topolski, chief technology consultant for broadband advocacy groups Free Press and Public Knowledge. "When I first heard about it, I thought it was an early April Fool's joke."
Cox, the third-largest cable company, said Tuesday that it intends to test a plan to manage congestion by occasionally prioritizing "time sensitive" traffic while slowing down other, less urgent material. The time-sensitive traffic includes Web streaming, email, instant messaging, games and remote connectivity. The material categorized as susceptible to delay includes bulk transfers of data for storage or file access, peer-to-peer protocols, software updates and Usenet newsgroups.
Oral argument of EMI's motion to dismiss counterclaims in Capitol Records v. MP3Tunes.com, Inc. took place on January 16, 2009.
EMI argued that since MP3Tunes did not comply with the DMCA notices it contends were improper, it sustained no damages.
THE COURT: Do you agree that if the plaintiffs distribute music for free on the Internet, your client distributes music for free on the Internet, the fact that those songs are somewhere on MP3tunes Web sites' is not infringement?
MR. BART: I think it still is infringement.
A copy of the transcript is now available online.
Request: how do we get copies of the letters Mitch Bainwol sent to the Commerce and Judiciary committees of Congress last month?
According to the Union Leader in New Hampshire, Mitch Bainwol of the RIAA sent letters to the Commerce and Judiciary Committees supposedly explaining the supposed cessation of lawsuits.
We need to get our hands on those letters. If anyone can get copies it would be appreciated.
The music industry is singing a different tune to defend against illegal downloads, targeting Internet service providers instead of end users.
But the Recording Industry Association of America says pending lawsuits, including one involving a New Hampshire woman, will move forward.
Students at Franklin Pierce Law Center are counting on it. The woman, Mavis Roy of Hudson, has called on legal clinics at the state's only law school to represent her as she fights the charges in federal court this year.
In Capitol Records v. Thomas, which is scheduled for its second trial to take place on March 9th, the verdict from the first trial having been set aside, the defendant has received a grant of $3000 from the Expert Witness Defense Fund of the Free Software Foundation to enable her to retain an expert witness.
In the first trial, she could not afford an expert witness to rebut the expert witness used by the RIAA.
Accordingly, her attorney has made a motion for an extension of the discovery deadline.
This is the second case in which the FSF's Expert Witness Defense Fund has lent assistance, the first being UMG Recordings v. Lindor, where it granted $2046.92 to compensate the expert witness and $750.00 to compensate the technical consultant. A full report of the Expert Witness Defense Fund's receipts and disbursements as of December 31, 2008, is available here.
In the RIAA's case against Usenet.com, Inc., Arista Records v. Usenet.com, Inc., the Magistrate Judge -- in a 73 page opinion -- has partially granted plaintiffs' motion for discovery sanctions for spoliation of electronic evidence. The Court declined to consider portions of the defendants' expert witness's declaration due to the expert's failure to meet Daubert reliability standards as to those portions.
Here is a link to the White House's contact form.
Please urge President Obama not to appoint a representative of the content cartel as "copyright czar". To do so would be a continuation of putting the 'foxes in charge of the henhouse'.
Please also make sure the White House is aware of Judge Davis's remarks in Capitol v. Thomas, calling for congressional reform to protect against outlandish verdicts against noncommercial users.
My article in "Journal of Internet Law"

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