The Duluth News Tribune has devoted the entire front page of today's Metro Section to the new proceedings in Capitol v. Thomas, and will publish the content on its website tomorrow, DuluthNewsTribune.com.
The paper's coverage terms Judge Davis's May 15th decision both "extraordinary" and "admirable", and points out what none of the briefs have pointed out -- that the Atlantic v. Howell decision upon which the RIAA was relying during the trial had been vacated five days before the trial, not months after the trial as Judge Davis had assumed. The News Tribune also features commentary by the RIAA's spokesperson Cara Duckworth, by the undersigned, and by Jammie Thomas herself.
Due to the widespread public interest in this case, the News Tribune has kindly granted us permission to host a copy of the article:
Northland Forum, Duluth News Tribune, July 6, 2008, Section B, Page 1 (PDF).
As promised, here are the Duluth News Tribune links (unfortunately, they require you to register):
Main editorial:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=69881§ion=opinion
Jammie Thomas:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=69878§ion=Opinion
Ray Beckerman:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=69880§ion=Opinion
Cara Duckworth:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=69879§ion=Opinion
Commentary & discussion:
Keywords: digital copyright law online internet 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 intellectual property
8 comments:
Reading the article I noticed that the RIAA representative could find nothing more to say than the usual "we are fighting the evil pirates who are destroying the misc industry" line and nothing at all relevent to the article or the case in question.
At least their PR people are consistent with their lawyers in beliving that if they same the same thing often enough people will belive them.
DB
Very nice!
Do you suppose that the judge might read the article?
He may yet conclude that he made no error, but it seems likely to a layman that he will conclude that the plantiff made a grievous error in failing to disclose the pre3cedents.
Kip Patterson
It’s commonly known as piracy, but it’s a too benign term that doesn’t even begin to adequately describe the toll that music theft takes on the many artists, songwriters, musicians, record label employees and others whose hard work and great talent make music possible.
— Cara Duckworth
Yes, let's just call it Murder and be done with it. You're killing the music industry, and all who profit from it. Capital punishment is called for.
And it's always great to lump in the professional pirates who have entire CD pressing plants and distribution networks raking in billions and billions of illegal dollars to fund terrorism with. The home P2P user is no different from the rest of them.
Don't download your music. That will cost you $220,000.00 per 24-pack. Instead shoplift your CD's. It's so much cheaper.
{The Common Man Speaking in Satire}
Hopefully Judge Davis will give them a well-deserved public flogging. Making assenine arguments is one thing, but perpetrating a fraud upon the court is quite another.
The major labels are already growing restless with the RIAA's non-investigating investigations and never-ending lawsuits, so this could be the black eye that shuts it down. The RIAA's case to the public requires a moral authority that they clearly do not posess. According to them, it's about the message - not the money - and I don't think you could find a messanger with less credibility.
My only concern is that the major media centers will not give the probable reversal as much publicity as it gave to the original verdict. The inscestuous nature of the media industry makes it hard to believe that the coverage will be unbiased.
While reading the PDF I noticed this quote from the RIAA director of communications "One credible analysis by the Institute for Policy Innovation concludes that global music piracy causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every year.". It seemed to me that I've heard of the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) before. A quick google later and I found what I was looking for. This is Dick Armeys Little think tank. This is the same one that keeps getting in trouble for hiring registered lobbyists and calling them researchers. These are the same people that are in favor of tightening patent enforcement in third world countries for AIDS drugs. I hardly think the word credible applies to them. Lets assume for a moment that the 12.5 billion figure is correct. At $20 per disk that would mean losses of 625 million discs per year. This hardly seems possible. I will admit that I haven't yet read the study so, I will have more to say later after I do. I strongly suspect that their methods and assumptions are flawed to say the least.
well, being "credible" doesn't mean being "truthful" or having "objectively correct" figures in your analysis!
NORAD is a credible source too, but that does not mean that their SantaTracker(*) is to be taken serious!
Sorry Cara to ruin it for you, Santa is fiction (just as your studies about losses are)!
(*)
http://www.noradsanta.org/
The inscestuous nature of the media industry makes it hard to believe that the coverage will be unbiased.
More like the fact that NBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, Fox, and Faux News are all owned by MPAA/RIAA members.
Also of note is how Cara mentions the RIAA having "investigators". Outside of MediaSentry, we don't know of any other representative organisation/group doing this at the RIAA's bidding. This should help shut down the case against Lindor a good bit further.
Post a Comment