Monday, July 21, 2008

Both sides move for summary judgment in Arista v. Limewire

Papers have been filed in Arista v. LimeWire which appear to be asking for summary judgment.

[Ed. note. We were unable to ascertain, from glancing at them, what the motions are all about. We were unable to find any memorandum of law from the plaintiffs, and the defendants filed two memoranda of law, one with all the substance "redacted". Accordingly, we have not prepared links to these papers, but have put many of the documents online for people who want to spend their time wading through them, in the following directory: http://beckermanlegal.com/Limewire/. However, I do not recommend that you do so. I regret the time and money I spent retrieving these from PACER. I have a hunch there won't be anything interesting until the trial. -R.B.]

Commentary & discussion:

ezee.se


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

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

From a quick survey of the documents, it looks like LimeWire got a bunch of declarations from individuals who use LimeWire and other P2P as a legitimate distribution channel, with an emphasis on moving picture distribution.

It's a nice argument:
- You can't shut us down, because people actually use us for legitimate reasons. (look at all our declarations)
- Even if you thought others were not using us for legitimate reasons, you have to offer proof that an exclusive right is violated, which is (apparently) not offered.

This is somewhat similar to the arguments Napster was making earlier. However, I think times have changed slightly, and more businesses are relying on P2P distribution to get material out there than they were in 1998. Just look at the success of BitTorrent as a software distribution system.

Q

Anonymous said...

Just look at the success of BitTorrent as a software distribution system.

Absolutely, but in addition Torrent-like (i.e., swarming) technologies are being used in areas where it's not so obvious. For example, Valve Corporation's STEAM Content Delivery System is based upon a swarming protocol. In fact, they hired Bram Cohen, the guy who originally came up with Bit Torrent, to develop it for them.

In spite of the verbiage spewn by MPAA types about bit torrent being a "pirate protocol" and so forth, the reality is that it's just another way to get bytes from here to there. The bigger and more popular the data, the more efficient the protocol becomes ... and that's what unnerves them.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

This is good comparison. I was too searching for the same information. I'll checkout your documents if they could help me there.

eZee.se said...

Hi Ray,
We have written another follow up based on your entry today at

http://ezee.se/articles-blog/2008/07/23/limewire-ready-for-bitter-sweet-judgment/

We would appreciate a link back under your "discussions"

Thanks in advance and thanks for fighting the good fight.

Regards,
Ryan
Ryan@ezee.se
www.ezee.se