Monday, January 22, 2007

UMG v. Hightower, case in Houston, Texas

We are today initiating coverage of a case in Houston, Texas, UMG v. Hightower.

The lawyer representing the defendant, June Hightower, is J. Goodwille Pierre, an intellectual property lawyer and member of Walker, James, Dhingra & Pierre, in Houston.

Defendant's interrogatory answers*

* 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

5 comments:

dave said...

In plain English - we (the RIAA), from the limited amount of 'evidence' have really have no clue what is on your computer, how it got there, who put it there, what you once had on your computer but have since deleted, even which computer you have, but if we ask enough questions we hope that you will incriminate yourself or point the finger at someone else we can pursue. In any other type of case this line of interrogation would surely be ludicrous. If we took as an example the theft of a cd from a record store (a crime that the RIAA are fond of equating to downloading) it is tantamount to identifying someone on CCTV as being present in the store at the time of the theft and then asking them to say whether they have any of the items stolen in their CD collection (not necessarily the stolen copies), to account for all other CDs in their collection at home, to say whether this collection includes CDs belonging to other family members or friends, to admit whether any of the titles on the stolen CD list were once in their possession but have since been removed etc. etc. Why do the courts allow such costly time-wasting? There are REAL crimes being committed out there by REAL criminals. End of Rant.

dave said...

Tell us Ray - what do you take for your blood pressure?

AMD FanBoi said...

An ONLINE MEDIA DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. Only the RIAA has, to my knowledge, ever called it that. Is there any way to shoot down such mischaracterization? Refuse to allow it to be called that since literally no one else has ever referred to it this way. Refuse to respond outright when they refer to it this way?

You can't win as long as you keep letting the RIAA set the terms of the debate.

dave said...

Couldn't agree more.

Isn't the whole internet an ONLINE MEDIA DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM?

raybeckerman said...

dave said..."Tell us Ray - what do you take for your blood pressure? "

1. For one thing I only do work that my parents, were they alive, wouldn't be ashamed of. So I always sleep well, because I have a clean conscience.

2. I eat healthy food.

3. I run in road races. (Slowly).

4. I associate with good people like "Goodwille" Pierre, the lawyer for Ms. Hightower. If you look him up it'll be obvious to you that he's a man of principle, who isn't always out for a quick buck, but who is truly in this business to try to help people, not hurt people, and not to just pile up dollars. I am proud to be associated with Goodwille and people like him.