Monday, October 08, 2007

Boston University's Daily Free Press: "BU prof testifies against RIAA's evidence in case"

Good article in Boston University student newspaper about the contribution made by the former Chairman of the University's Computer Science Department, in seeking vacatur of the RIAA's ex parte order against Boston University students in Arista v. Does 1-21.

BU prof testifies against RIAA's evidence in case
Stefanie Tuder
Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: News

A Boston University professor has gained support for testifying that the Recording Industry Association of America cannot distinguish between illegally downloaded music and legal files simply by listening to them.

Appearing as a technical expert witness for 21 Boston-area students being sued for illegal filesharing, computer science professor Azer Bestavros testified July 12 that the RIAA cannot reasonably determine the legality of songs by listening to them, as a witness had claimed.

Arista Records is suing the anonymous students in a case that has seen the testimony of Carlos Linares, vice president of legal affairs for the Recording Industry Association of America. On April 26, Linares testified that after the music files were listened to, they were confirmed as being illegally obtained.
"It is not possible to distinguish between a music file obtained from a licensed, legal source and the same music file obtained illegally by . . . only listening to the downloaded files," said Bestavros, a College of Arts and Sciences professor, in his testimony.
Complete article


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




1 comment:

BlackSol said...

Somebody should have the RIAA put up or shut up.

Make them prove they can tell the difference in a double-blind ABX test.