FSF Sets Up Fund To Pay For Experts Who Can Show How Flimsy RIAA Evidence Is

from the oh-so-flimsy dept

Mon, Nov 19th 2007 7:03pm — Mike Masnick

For years, people have been pointing out that the evidence the RIAA often uses in lawsuits against people for file sharing is often quite flimsy. While there's no doubt that many of the people the RIAA goes after are guilty of unauthorized file sharing, that doesn't rationalize the use of questionable evidence that can often suggest completely innocent people were engaged in file sharing. Of course, it's one thing to say the evidence is flimsy, and it's another thing altogether to bring experts into court who can convince a judge (or jury). The Free Software Foundation has now decided to create a fund (for which it's seeking donations) to help pay for expert witnesses to combat the RIAA's evidence in cases. Lawyer Ray Beckerman, who has been quite vocal in fighting the RIAA will help advise the fund and determine which lawsuits deserve money from the fund for an expert witness. It's really too bad that such a fund is even needed -- and it should (though won't) be a wakeup call to the recording industry to see that so many people are sick of these lawsuits that they would fund such a thing in the first place.

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Filed Under: copyright, evidence, flimsy, fsf, ray beckerman
Companies: riaa

8 Comments

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Max Powers, 19 Nov 2007 @ 8:05pm

No Help?
We have no one with a deep pocket to help with this situation?
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2007 @ 8:06pm

Re: No Help?
Let's enlist Radiohead now that they made it big! *bg*
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Record Exec, 19 Nov 2007 @ 8:40pm

You Will never win
We have all the money, you can collect your pennies all you want, you will never win!
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Dave, 19 Nov 2007 @ 8:42pm

Re: No Help
Anyone with deep pockets and cares about file sharing stands to gain from the lawsuits.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2007 @ 9:14pm

We've already paid the phone companies several billion to start the process of laying fiber to the home, but they took it and said what money?
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2007 @ 9:16pm

whoops wrong tab.
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PaulT (profile), 20 Nov 2007 @ 1:32am

No expert needed...
Let's be honest, we don't need an "expert" for this - pretty much anyone familiar enough with computers to know what IP addresses are could enact a reasonable and convincing retort against the RIAA's claims. All the FSF needs to do is find someone friendly to the cause who has credentials that a court would take as being equivalent or superior to the RIAA's paid "experts" so that a court would consider their retort seriously.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Nov 2007 @ 8:03am

Definitely flimsy - I would say that 1 in 5 copyright complaints we get where I work are for IP addresses that have never been assigned to anyone, nor have any flow data through our routers.
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