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RIAA defendant enlists Harvard Law prof, students

arstechnica.com — Another file-sharing case is moving to trial, but the defendant has recently picked up some powerful allies: a Harvard Law prof and his class of students. Together, they argue that the entire underpinnings of the RIAA campaign are flawed and unconstitutional.

Who dugg this? Made popular Oct 30, 2008

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  • Andy.D, on 10/29/2008, -1/+69The RIAA has picked a fight it can't win on legal merits.
  • funkyloki, on 10/29/2008, -0/+50Here is the link to the defendant's deposition cited in the article:
    http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cyberone/category/ria ...

    The RIAA lawyers are nothing but a bunch of liars. Before the deposition, Neeson was told that he could only bring 2 students with him because the space would not allow more than that. When they arrived, they found that it was a rather large room that would have accommodated a large group. Liars! Good luck Joel, for all of our sakes.
  • dupswapdrop, on 10/30/2008, -0/+44About time someone bitch slapped the RIAA.
  • Chiliap2, on 10/30/2008, -0/+43As someone who generally is against pirating, I have to say, this opened my mind a little bit. Those were all very good arguments, and I think that the RIAA appears to be abusing its power.
  • jemka, on 10/30/2008, -0/+26I can't wait to hear a bunch of high priced lawyers lost to a bunch of students.
  • smotpoker1, on 10/29/2008, -1/+26Wish I was on the jury I would give joel 10 billion dollars from the RIAA.***** the RIAA.
  • Stavrosian, on 10/30/2008, -0/+25Yeah, I don't think there is any real argument that copyright infringement isn't wrong (not an argument which isn't transparently disingenuous, at least). The plainly unlawful way in which the cases are being handled, however, is no way to tackle the problem. It's great that this professor has decided to try and make the case, and I wish him and his students luck.
  • B4T3R, on 10/30/2008, -1/+21people need to realize that the RIAA are just bullies excessivley using their power to start witch-hunts across America. It's ridiculous, and something needs to be done about it, and I'm glad that Prof. Nesson is the one who has decided to step up.
  • ravishingluke, on 10/30/2008, -0/+16I don't agree with piracy, but, as stated in the article, RIAA is bullying. They should not be allowed to continue what they are doing. The defense does bring up some great points...in particular the urban legend angle.
  • bdfariello, on 10/30/2008, -0/+15"As evidence of Joel’s supposed disrespect, he pointed out: 'Here is a kid who shows up in our office wearing a Red Sox T-shirt and sun glasses!' The decision was made to save that conversation for another day and continue the deposition."

    This just in: the RIAA are Yankees fans.
  • AtraNoxVII, on 10/30/2008, -0/+15Digital Generation Vs. The Establishment

    Fight the power!
  • jrm125, on 10/30/2008, -1/+13The argument isn't that piracy should be permitted, it's the method of enforcement. The bounds have been grossly overstepped.

    The RIAA deserves a bitch slapping to put it back in its place.
  • scabbers, on 10/30/2008, -3/+15Let's hope they're smarter than the morons from the business school.
  • gkiltz, on 10/30/2008, -0/+10Another Better Late Than Never action on the part of someone forced to defend the constitution as a private citizen!
  • maceelk, on 10/30/2008, -0/+10Can we get a *Cheers!!!* for Harvard Law stepping in.

  • AtraNoxVII, on 10/30/2008, -1/+11You see what happens when you say stupid things like that, Billy?
    You get buried.
  • inactive, on 10/30/2008, -0/+10Seriously RIAA needs to stop ruining peoples lives over BS.
  • kirado4, on 10/30/2008, -2/+10f-f-f-f-f- ***** the RIAA
  • CdnBacon, on 10/30/2008, -1/+8How much does the RIAA pay you to write that crap?
    I wonder how many CD, cassettes, mp3 you have obtained without permission from the copyright owner in your life?

    Since the advent of recordable media people have been trading and copying music. I'm pretty sure the million dollar homes owned by some of the biggest artists in the world and the luxurious lifestyles they lead are a good indication that non of them are hurting financially. How much of the moneys collected from these lawsuits do the artists see?

    You think that musicians are so popular because of advertising.. It's because mediums like the internet are allowing people to hear the music. Artists make hardly any money on record sales. They make money on touring. You think record labels care about artists? They care about the bottom line.

    Now your talking true hypocrisy.
  • jweebo, on 10/30/2008, -1/+7Huck Farvard!
  • AtraNoxVII, on 10/30/2008, -2/+8B-b-b-buried.
  • squirrelza, on 10/30/2008, -4/+10Can you say oooownnnned? Maybe they can help out with some marijuana laws too.
  • fitzal77, on 10/30/2008, -0/+5@saqer Here's my analogy. A family in a private residence along a busy stretch of road is sick of drivers speeding. The family sets up cameras and radars in front of their house, and starts suing people for hundreds of thousands of dollars for "endangering their family". The family is incredibly wealthy and hires hundreds of cut-throat lawyers who make threats to everyone on the road. Rarely does anyone stand against them for the power they hold.
    Everyone knows it's illegal, but enforcing it is a job for the police. This article is not about people trying to "get by with piracy". This article is about someone fighting back against a tyrannous organization lashing out at the people who are actually supporting them.
  • brickbat, on 10/30/2008, -0/+5I am surprised there is no mention of the "made available" vs actually distributed issue in their counter claim. That appears the be the strongest argument at the moment.
  • enantiodromia, on 10/30/2008, -0/+4the RIAA should hire all those out of work lawyers from SCO lol
  • zantos420, on 10/30/2008, -2/+6dupe but i guess mr baby has more friends.
    http://digg.com/music/Fight_against_RIAA_taken_to_ ...
    ***** you mr baby
  • Birdoftruth, on 10/30/2008, -0/+4too bad the judge makes that decision
  • Jaliyl, on 10/30/2008, -0/+4ROW ROW, FIGHT DA POWA
  • AtraNoxVII, on 10/30/2008, -2/+6You must enjoy being buried.
    Do you like the feel of earth surrounding you?
    Yes, yes I think you do.
    I want to help you then to be happy.
    *Buries*
    Enjoy.
  • Roxkis, on 10/30/2008, -0/+4Do the impossible, see the invisible.
    ROW ROW FIGHT DA POWER!
  • jgzman, on 10/30/2008, -1/+5Do you consider a penelty of $200/song justice? Bankrupting people for filesharing?

  • SSUK, on 10/30/2008, -0/+3By building a torrent robot!
  • joshhan, on 10/30/2008, -0/+3Shades of Legally Blonde...
  • Jaliyl, on 10/30/2008, -0/+3Someone's a Yale man.

    ***** Yale, my Mom went to Harvard.
  • secrity, on 10/30/2008, -0/+3They would do a well researched and well crafted video article, possibly involving explosives -- and then it would get buried.
  • wigren, on 10/30/2008, -0/+3Your mom.... oh, never mind.
  • 64bitllama, on 10/30/2008, -1/+4You don't know one thing about how the RIAA or the law operates, do you?
  • CuriousJohnson, on 10/30/2008, -1/+3Hooray for school.
  • jweebo, on 10/30/2008, -0/+2wait I'm sorry. it's 'Fahvahd'

    silly me and my forgetting to lampoon the accent as well...
  • AtraNoxVII, on 10/30/2008, -1/+3If it is dirt that you desire, it is dirt you shall receive!
  • sjmulder, on 10/30/2008, -0/+2I wonder how the MythBusters would tackle that one.
  • joshhan, on 10/30/2008, -0/+2Actually, the linked blog entry said it was a thinly veiled dig(g) at the Red Sox/Colorado World Series.







    PHILLIES WORLD SERIES '08 CHAMPS
  • fitzal77, on 10/30/2008, -1/+3The type of person digging this article has no relevance to the validity of its purpose. If you read the article, you'd see that no one is making the argument that sharing copyrighted files is right or legal. The RIAA is going about everything the wrong way, and it's everyone's right to stick up for themselves.
  • meghalc, on 10/30/2008, -0/+2Good luck to Mr. Joel. I hope they teach RIAA some manners and put them out of business some how.

    btw, great article.
  • PopcornDave, on 10/30/2008, -0/+2If you really desire humiliation saqer, wouldn't it be more productive to see a dominatrix?
  • inactive, on 10/30/2008, -0/+2I'm not gonna lie; I had to Google that reference...
  • l034me, on 10/30/2008, -1/+3AtraNoxVII you know better, please don't feed the trolls.
  • PopcornDave, on 10/30/2008, -0/+2Thank you Mel Tillis.
  • kocurejd, on 10/31/2008, -0/+1Uh, yeah. It's also linked in the text of the article. Good job.
  • jgzman, on 10/30/2008, -0/+1I didn't ask what the law allowed, I asked if it was justice. In certain parts of the middle east, you can be executed for converting from Islam to another religion.

    That's legal. Is it Justice?
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