Friday, February 23, 2007

Ms. Lindor's Son Opposes RIAA Motion to Compel, RIAA expert Doug Jacobson deposed, in UMG v. Lindor

In UMG v. Lindor,

-Ms. Lindor's son filed papers opposing the RIAA's motion to compel production of his personal computer:

Memorandum of Law In Opposition to Motion to Compel*
Declaration of Richard A. Altman In Opposition to Motion to Compel*
Affidavit of Woody Raymond In Opposition to Motion to Compel*

and

-the RIAA's expert witness, Dr. Doug Jacobson, was deposed.

* Document published online at Internet Law & Regulation

Keywords: digital copyright online download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs

7 comments:

Scott Ferguson said...

I just finished reading Woody Raymond's affadavit. Gee, this is getting ugly really fast.

It is so good that these documents are in the public record. I suppose that this blog is primarily a means for defense lawyers to learn about cases relevant to defending their clients against RIAA's misguided campaign. However, for the rest of us, it's a chronicle of the horrors of American law; and in particular, how a wealthy plaintiff can endlessly game the country's institutions of justice to ambiguous ends.

It reminds me of one of Chuck Barris's unproduced game show ideas, "How Low Can You Go." As described in Salon:

"Contestants would try to underbid each other for such jobs as kicking an old man's crutches out from under him or shooting a little boy's dog. Reality shows have barely scratched the surface of Barris' tongue-in-cheek vision. "The ultimate game show," he has said, "would be one where the losing contestant was killed." "

I wonder what Chuck Barris would think of the RIAA's campaign against America. The loser doesn't get killed, of course, but the conclusion of each episode takes years, which in some ways makes it more cruel.

Scott Ferguson said...

Will a transcript of Dr. Doug Jacobson's testimony be entered into the public record? There are several hundred people all over the world just waiting to rip it apart. If there's a fee involved, perhaps the EFF could cover the cost.

raybeckerman said...

1. Welcome, Zi.

2. Scott, it's also intended for the wider community who are interested in law, copyright law, the internet, p2p file sharing, etc. I keep it dry not because it's just intended for lawyers, but because (a) I don't have the time for witty commentary, (b) I don't have time, period, (c) the most important function I can perform is just to get the hard news out there, and (d) the RIAA is always attacking my blog, so I need to be conservative.

3. Yes, the RIAA is not asking for confidentiality. I agree with you that there will be widespread interest in its contents.

Alter_Fritz said...

Ray, please please tell us that you deposed "dougj" via video conference, and that we will see a "best of" of it remixed with nonRIAA CC licensed music next week on youtube...
;-P

you know, like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnLB8wysMbY (warning! strong language)

raybeckerman said...

Sorry, alter-fritz, I didn't think of that until it was too late.

But I think the worldwide technical community will find the transcript to be interesting reading indeed.

Scott Ferguson said...

Ray, I have no complaints about your blog being dry. On the contrary, your blog fulfills the promise of blogging -- to surface information that you can't find elsewhere. It's really well written, too. When all of this is settled, I hope you will keep blogging.

raybeckerman said...

Thanks, Scott.
Much appreciated.