Judge Slams RIAA Tactics
from the about-time dept
Early on, in the RIAA's legal campaign against file sharers, it appeared that judges were mostly siding with the RIAA, and taking the RIAA's claims at face value. However, due to widespread backlash, and an improved understanding of how the RIAA's tactics are legally questionable, it appears that opposing lawyers have become much better at pushing back on some of the dubious claims by the RIAA, including the basis for the whole campaign. It's nice to see judges are beginning to recognize this as well. While we've seen it in judges rejecting RIAA arguments in court, in one case, it appears that Judge Nancy Gertner pointed out how ridiculous the RIAA's position was and suggested they stop their legal blitz:"...counsel representing the record companies have an ethical obligation to fully understand that they are fighting people without lawyers... to understand that the formalities of this are basically bankrupting people, and it's terribly critical that you stop it...."The RIAA used to count on the "sympathy" vote in court, and played the role of a "victim" quite well (they're pirates! they're stealing!). However, it appears that many judges just aren't buying it any more.
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Excellent
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Not 1 cent!
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Re:
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Read the remarks of the editor.
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Even better news...
Harvard law professor Charlie Neeson and colleagues have determined that the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999, the law on which RIAA litigation rests, is actually intended for criminal cases and that civil use is unconstitutional. Further, they believe the act itself is also unconstitutional.
You can read the story here
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Re: Even better news...
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But in the end, it can't be said there's no profit in all of this, there most certainly is for the lawyers!
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