riaa litigation
Judge Refuses to Punish Lawyer for Anti-RIAA Blogging
An attorney defending against a music-piracy lawsuit didn’t cross ethical bounds by filing motions broadly attacking the recording industry and posting them on his blog, a magistrate judge has ruled, rejecting demands from the RIAA for monetary sanctions. Attorney Ray Beckerman was “less than forthcoming at times” in defending a client against an RIAA lawsuit, but the music industry’s concerns were “largely overstated,” New York Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy wrote Friday (.pdf).
Continue reading »Feds Support $1.92 Million RIAA File Sharing Verdict
The Obama administration told a federal judge Friday the $1.92 million jury verdict against a Minnesota woman for sharing 24 music tracks on Kazaa was constitutionally sound, despite defense claims it was unconstitutionally excessive. After the June verdict against Jammie Thomas-Rasset, defense attorneys urged U.S. District Judge Michael Davis to set it aside or reduce dramatically the $80,000-per-song award, arguing it was “ excessive, shocking and monstrous .” In response to that challenge to the Copyright Act, which allows damages up to $150,000 per song, the Justice Department told Davis in a 26-page brief that the verdict should not be overturned on grounds it was unconstitutionally excessive.
Continue reading »Jury Dings File Sharer $675,000, RIAA Prevails
A federal jury on Friday concluded that a 25-year-old college student must pay $675,000 — or $22,500 for each of the 30 songs he was found liable of infringing, Ben Sheffner reports from the courthouse. After a week-long trial and nearly three hours of deliberations, the Massachusetts jury concluded that Joel Tenenbaum, a Boston University graduate student, should pay those damages to the Recording Industry Association of America for infringing its copyrights on Kazaa. He was the nation’s second RIAA file sharing defendant to go before a jury.
Continue reading »British Pentagon Hacker Loses Extradition Appeals
Britain’s High Court on Friday rejected two extradition appeals by Pentagon hacker and 9/11 truther Gary “Solo” McKinnon, who’s trying to avoid a U.S. trial for cracking nearly 100 Pentagon and NASA computers in 2001 and 2002. If convicted, McKinnon, 43, faces anywhere from six months to six-and-a-half years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, depending on how much damage he caused, and other factors.
Continue reading »RIAA File Sharing Trial Begins
Trial for the nation’s second file sharing defendant to go before a jury is beginning Monday in Massachusetts. The outcome is already shaping up to resemble the only other file sharing trial, which ended in a judgment in favor of the Recording Industry Association of America. That’s because hours before opening statements were scheduled for late Monday, a federal judge in the case effectively gutted defendant Joel Tenenbaum’s defense.
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