RIAA Wants Student Deposed On School Day

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In a Houston, Texas, case, UMG v. Hightower, the RIAA has served a subpoena on the defendant's son, a high school student, on one day's notice, telling him to be at a lawyer's office at 9:00 a.m. the next day, a school day, for a deposition. The defendant's lawyer objected (PDF)."

Comments

Prays?

[jakosc]

From the Motion to Quash:

Defendant prays that the court grants this motion Prays?? Is that what's necessary now?

Re:Prays?

[FlatLine84]

I dunno, but this excuse beats the "My dog ate my homework" line.

Re:Prays?

[aadvancedGIR]

I don't quite remember (sorry, I don't live in the USA). Isn't Texas one of the state where you can't work as a government official if you're a bloody atheist?

Re:Prays?

[eln]

humor, noun: a comic, absurd, or incongruous quality causing amusement

oblivious, adjective: see FooAtWFU

Re:Prays?

[gEvil (beta)]

What, pray tell, is your problem with the word?

Re:Prays?

[Frymaster]

I don't quite remember (sorry, I don't live in the USA). Isn't Texas one of the state where you can't work as a government official if you're a bloody atheist?

i don't know about the 'bloody' part, but article 1 section 4 of the bill of 'rights' of the texas constitution states that people may not hold office if they don't "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being".

the full text is:

"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."

my source is here.

Re:Prays?

[sjf]

The words court, curia and curate are cognates. Early European courts were indeed held in church. Hence 'pray' is not strictly secular.
(Of course, the origin of the word curia is even earlier and during roman times simply meant a division of the people, then the term was applied to the people meeting as a body in order to make civil and judicial decisions. It is through the Catholic church that "curia" acquired its eclesiatical meaning.)

Re:Prays?

[Elemenope]

And while I'm not sure if that segment of the Texas con. has specifically been challeneged, but other states that have similar provisions have had them struck down unanimously by the USSC [Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)]. The Article VI language preventing religious tests or oaths for federal office was ruled to apply to the states.

Re:Prays?

[hax0r_this]

Yes, I did some research on the topic last year and it seems that Texas doesn't enforce that clause in order not to dirty their image. If they were to enforce it they would be challenged, and if they took it all the way to the Supreme Court they would lose there, so rather than going through all that they just keep the clause for the warm fuzzy feeling it gives them, but don't bother to enforce it.

Re:Prays?

[wesmills]

I do live in Texas, and the use of the word "pray" in a legal document, at least in the American legal system, does not imply communications with a religious deity. "Pray," as a verb, has at least two meanings that are distinctive here:

4. to make earnest petition to (a person).
5. to make petition or entreaty for; crave

(See: dictionary.com)

The legal "pray" simply is a formal way to ask the Court for an action. You will find this phrase in many legal filings, not just in Texas courts.

Thanks for the slam, though; always good to see the myths and legends preserved.

Re:Prays?

[bazorg]

he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."

Michael Jordan is real enough for me to sign that contract.

Re:Prays?

[Bogtha]

article 1 section 4 of the bill of 'rights' of the texas constitution states that people may not hold office if they don't "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being".

No it doesn't. Read it again. It says that people who acknowledge the existence of a supreme being are not subject to any other religious requirements. It doesn't say anything about people who do not acknowledge the existence of a supreme being.

It's a statement restricting what the government can demand of public officials who believe in a deity. It's practically the opposite of a requirement to hold office — it's a loophole, not a demand.

It's a stupid law alright, but it doesn't forbid atheists from holding office per se, it just doesn't give them the same loophole as everybody else.

Re:Prays?

[malkien]

your examples would be too controversial.
I say Cthulhu would qualify as quite supreme by any standard.

Re:Prays?

[ameoba]

While it's great fun to argue the constitutionality of such of law, what are the chances that an atheist actually could get elected to any position of importance in TX?

Re:Prays?

[Bogtha]

You could probably get away with Diana Ross.

Re:Prays?

[ultranova]

I say Cthulhu would qualify as quite supreme by any standard.

The Supreme Being of Cthulhuverse is Azathoth. Cthulhu is just a priest, and a slothful one at that :).

Re:Prays?

[BrokenHalo]

I knew a Texan once. He was so big that when he died, no-one could make a big enough coffin to bury him in.

So they gave him an enema, and buried him in a shoe-box...

*ducks* :-D

Re:Prays?

[Xtravar]

There are nuts everywhere. Most don't become too nutty until you start pointing out things that are wrong and differences that nobody noticed before.

The Texas constitution was made a long time ago by the people of the time. So were the original designs for US currency, and protocol for swearing on a bible before testifying in court. Do people look at currency and think, "Gee golly, it's right! In God I trust!"? Do they swear on the bible and actually feel compelled to tell the truth more so than otherwise? No.

Most nonsense that people complain about is left over tradition. Yes, sometimes tradition has to go. Other times, it doesn't, as it really means nothing to the people anymore. The moment someone complains about something like the Texas constitution, it starts a shoving battle between people who feel like their culture is being attacked and people who feel the need to fix something that isn't broken. IMO, in some cases it's better to let tradition and culture, remnants of the past, fade out silently than to attack them and renew interest in them.

Re:Prays?

[asninn]

The constitution - or, for that matter, any (written) law - is not going to fade out of existence just because people ignore it, though. If Texas doesn't enforce this clause because they know it'd just be struck down eventually, you might conclude that nothing's actually wrong, but if I was from Texas, I'd still petition for it to be abolished. Not necessarily by raising a big stink in public, but I still think it'd be an important gesture if it was removed - a sign that "separation of church and state" is not just an empty, hollow term, but that rather, it actually means something.

Re:Prays?

[aztektum]

Seems to me every puppe^H^H^H^Hpolitician I see on TV these days is always thanking God and going to church. The question is what's the chance of an atheist being elected to ANY national position of influence?

Re:Prays?

[InsaneProcessor]

It is most often misstated but the bottom line here is that there is nothing in the United States constitution stating "separation of church and state". The constitution states that the government shall not tell the public what religion they MUST practice. If one reads and understand plain English, this would be understood and not contorted into something that it is not.

Atheism is as much a religion as not collecting stamps is a hobby.

Re:Prays?

[rilian4]

Not accurate. "In God We Trust" was on many US coins well back into the 1800s. What happened in the 1950s was that it became mandatory on all US coins. In case you don't believe me, go look at old 1800s coins in any coin shop. You will see it. I have several in my collection.

If you are going to butcher history, do it elsewhere. McCarthyism and this phrase are just a coincidence. The movement for "In God We Trust" on coins was around much longer and only happened to be passed into law in the 1950s.

-rilian

Re:Prays?

[Checkmait]

What you are saying is precisely my point. To use your example, Alex the Atheist may be barred from public office: that's what the Texas Constitution says. Plain and simple. Undeniably. You won't need another law, the governor or whomever is responsible for this just needs to point to the Texas Constitution and say, "Hey, Alex the Atheist, you don't believe a Supreme Being, so I'm going to stop you from holding another office." Kind of like we don't need a law to enforce freedom of speech, we can just point to the Constitution. However, as is the case today, nobody points this out and if Alex the Atheist won an election, he could become governor, legislator, or whatever with no problem.

Re:Prays?

[Bidouleroux]

Atheism is as much a religion as not collecting stamps is a hobby. Wow. This must indeed be slashdot, where such nonsense is modded interesting (it should be modded funny or simply down). Your logic isn't faulty per se, but you do not seem to understand what atheism means. Atheism is a statement of belief, just as theism or deism is, but it is not a religion. A religion is a set of beliefs and practices held by a community. Individuals sharing a belief does not make a religion, or else Judaism, Christianity and Islam would all be considered the same religion since they all believe in only one God (and the same too!). Also, not collecting something is not a hobby: a hobby is an activity of some sort, not collecting is not an activity by any meaningful definition of the word 'activity'. If you want to call it something, it would have to be 'not-hobby'.

Using the word 'must' in the phrase "the government shall not tell the public what religion they MUST practice", does not mean the public must practice a religion, it is only there to emphasize that the government cannot command anyone in the practice of the religion of their choice: the 'must' is rhetorical flourish, not strict and overly logico-formal grammar (it is a text intended to be read and understood by all literate 18th century citizens, not logicians). The writers of the constitution were well aware of the atheistic beliefs of the times since they had contact with the Frenchmen who borne them. They even had contact with those who had a strict non-religious or irreligious views of the world (d'Holbach and co.). Saying that they intended for all humans to obligatorily adhere to some form of religion is idiotic. They were educated men of their time, and the constitution they crafted (with the first couple of amendments) reflects that fact.

School Day == Work Day?

[rsmith-mac]

Uhh, I hate to even sound like I'm agreeing with the MAFIAA on anything, but when exactly are they supposed to depose him if not on a school day? The school week and the work week are pretty well aligned, and forcing them to either work on a weekend or wait until he's on vacation is stretching things. Their actions are certainly deplorable, especially giving a one-day notice, but doing it on a school day isn't one of those deplorable actions.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[tomstdenis]

How about do it after class? Unless it's a serious deposition (bah music lawsuit != worth ditching school) it can wait till after. Or better yet, bring the lawyer to the school, do it during a lunch break.

Why does the music industry feel it should tamper with the education of our minors just to placate some facile legal action?

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[rob1980]

I suppose scheduling the deposition for after 3pm is probably out of the question.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[pla]

and forcing them to either work on a weekend or wait until he's on vacation is stretching things.

THEY want his deposition. Not the other way around.

Why should he suffer an inconvenience to suit their schedule?

In the same situation, if I had to lose a day's pay to humor the RIAA, I'd feel mightily pissed off. OTOH, I have very little doubt that some hungry young lawyer would work OT on the RIAA's dollar to take the deposition on Saturday or some weeknight.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[mass]

The day in question was one in which the student was required to show up to take the TAKS test, a state-wide standardized test that's required for graduation.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[jedidiah]

The RIAA can infact hold the deposition anytime they like. They simply need to have all of the principals present as well as the necessary support staff. This isn't something like a trial where you need to book the relevant government building and government official.

They could hold this deposition at midnight and call it a seance.

They could simply hold it in the business hours after school.

They could be accomodating and even ask the guy when would be a good time.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[cprael]

The 24 hour notice thing is called abuse of process. It goes beyond the fishing expedition aspects, and gets into "now we're going to use this to screw up your life."

BTDT.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why should he suffer an inconvenience to suit their schedule?

Because this is one of the RIAA file sharing lawsuits. Making people suffer is their primary objective. The greater inconvenience in the initial stages, the less likely someone will actually challenge them. This is the RIAA saying "We can make life miserable for you and your entire family, and it's completely legal. So cough up whatever amount of money _we_ think is fair, and we won't keep you dangling in legal hell for the next decade."

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[Billosaur]

That's the bigger concern. I think most people would agree that getting served a subpoena and having 24 or less hours notice is pretty poor sportsmanship on the part of the RIAA, but what else is new? The hole they dig for themselves gets deeper all the time.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[UnknowingFool]

Uhh, I hate to even sound like I'm agreeing with the MAFIAA on anything, but when exactly are they supposed to depose him if not on a school day? The school week and the work week are pretty well aligned, and forcing them to either work on a weekend or wait until he's on vacation is stretching things. Their actions are certainly deplorable, especially giving a one-day notice, but doing it on a school day isn't one of those deplorable actions.

Well special provisions are afforded to minors as opposed to adults. Also one of the objections was that the deposition would be during school hours. Certainly the plaintiff could have done it on a weekend or after school hours, but didn't do so.

Reading the motion, it appears that the subpoena was done in a very sloppy manner which explains the short notice. It appears that the plaintiff tried to email the subpoena (not legal from what I recall) and to the wrong attorney at first. The plaintiff finally sent a subpoena to the defendants home with less than 24 hours. Now, if it is true that the plaintiff's attorney failed to deliver a subpoena in a timely manner, they should have moved back the deposition to accomodate. It appears that they didn't do that either.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[BlueNoteMKVI]

How about some time after 3 PM? That's when school lets out around here - most businesses are open until at least 5. The motion also specifically noted that the student was supposed to take the TAKS test today. TAKS is our statewide standardized test which must be passed for promotion to the next grade or for graduation at the end of high school. If he misses the TAKS test he'll have to make it up at some point, forcing him to miss another day of school. TAKS days are only ~5 days out of the school year depending on grade level. Asking for a deposition on a non-TAKS day would be much less of a burden.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[ec_hack]

when exactly are they supposed to depose him if not on a school day?

Well, it's not just any school day they picked. It's TAKS testing day - a statewide test in Texas that has to be passed to graduate from high school. They picked one of the worst possible days of the year to compel him to show up. They are either evil or ignorant, in my opinion.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[hazem]

Or lose good money paid as tuition. Let's suppose he's paying $2000 for each class and it meets 16 times (a semester), he's losing $125 for each class session they make him miss.

If they're going to force him out of class for their benefit, they need to pay him for his losses.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[LWATCDR]

Last time I checked school ended around 3 pm. The workday tends to end between 5 and 6 pm.
They could do it after school.
Also I have to wonder about going after a minor at all. Can you claim that a minor understands copyright law? This going after kids gives me such warm fuzzys for the music companies to start with.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[LoveGoblin]

They are either evil or ignorant, in my opinion.

These are not mutually exclusive.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[Jtheletter]

Uhh, I hate to even sound like I'm agreeing with the MAFIAA on anything, but when exactly are they supposed to depose him if not on a school day? The school week and the work week are pretty well aligned, and forcing them to either work

Well in most places I'm aware of the typical highschooler gets out between 2pm to 3pm, and the typical work day ends at 5pm to 6pm. So there's at least a 2 hour overlap there, as much as 4 hours. Now, of course the RIAA lawyers will no doubt wish to make the deposition as long and painful as possible, but accomodating the school schedule is not impossible. I'll not even get into the 24 horus notice and mis-sent deposition requests that others have pointed out.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[rah1420]

At the risk of getting ensnared on your hook, you could've read the article and discovered that for yourself.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[Nimey]

Read GP again. You missed "either", which implies mutex.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[MindStalker]

You should have asked the judge to make her pay your legal cost (this included missed work time etc).

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[thephotoman]

But this is not only pre-trial stuff, the kid is not, as far as the documentation says, the defendant, but the defendant's son. What's more, this is a frivolous and abusive lawsuit--not a criminal trial. If you're on trial for criminal charges, you're probably suspended from school anyway--this is generally the state of things in Texas. I don't know what happens if you get acquitted.

Re:School Day == Work Day?

[frostband]

you could've read the article and discovered that for yourself

And revoke my official slashdotter status? Don't be silly.

In Other News...

[stevens]

An RIAA lawyer today tipped poorly at the diner where he eats breakfast.

June Dawson, 43, waited on him this morning. She is a single mother of two, battling cancer. She was not enthusiastic about the tip: "He left a stinking dime. Next time I'm going to spit in his eggs."

The RIAA did not respond to enquiries at press time.

Go figure.

[Mockylock]

RIAA is basically becoming an automated bot nowadays, anyway. I'd be surprised if they don't show up in court as robots with brief cases as well.

Someone needs to start doing something about RIAA's boundaries and arrogance, considering they're getting so careless with who they're attacking nowadays. How long will it be, before Judges and courtrooms are sick of these petty charges, and start only allowing the larger criminals who actually sell and distribute?

Right now, you're paying less when distributing marijuana or posessing cocaine, than you are to host MP3's.. EVEN if you're a child!

There HAS to be a line drawn somewhere.

Re:Go figure.

[mpcooke3]

How long will it be, before Judges and courtrooms are sick of these petty charges, and start only allowing the larger criminals who actually sell and distribute?

Or they could spend their time prosecuting price fixing media cartels.

Re:Go figure.

[Skevin]

> you're paying less when distributing marijuana or posessing cocaine, than you are to host MP3's

I once got modded down for saying this, but I predicted that the RIAA and Rockstar Games would create a new GTA to reflect the truly heinous crimes in the USA:

1 star: Making backups of your music
2 stars: downloading music off the internet
3 stars: living next door to someone downloading music off the internet
4 stars: living next door to someone *accused* of downloading music off the internet
5 stars: playing poker online for real money
6 stars: not having any real money

Shooting cops and beating up hookers have nothing on these crimes.

Solomon

Wow

[EvilGoodGuy]

RIAA is realy getting out of hand with their bullying. It's good to hear news about their losses, but their abviosly winning enough to keep harassing.

Why would they need a deposition anyway?

[aadvancedGIR]

With their own lawyer and without giving enough time to prepare anything. There is only one possible explanation: what they really want is an intimidation session.
Since he would not be facing a policeman but the opposition lawyer, can he simply walk away anytime he wants or refuse to sign anything?

Re:Why would they need a deposition anyway?

[serialdogma]

Quoteth the the fifth: "nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself".
The key is that this is not a criminal case, it is a civil case.

What happened?

[jakosc]

Also, I just realized '9:00 am the next day' was two days ago, so...what happened?

Re:What happened?

[robbiethefett]

you are very true to your nick, Overly Critical Guy.. i can't fault you for that. but the emphasis you placed on "FUCKING OVER" made me think that perhaps there was a direct correlation between downloading and slumping record sales. Of course, on further inspection, i have found no scientifically credible data that would lead me to believe CD sales currently are, or ever will be affected by piracy. I decided to phone one of my friends who happens to make a living from playing music. I asked him what his thoughts were, and the answers he gave me were pretty enlightening.. it seems that most musicians, from unsigned artists, all the way up to the most popular mega bands make the majority of their income from touring and merchandising. those $20 t-shirts you buy at a concert have a several-hundred-percent profit margin. Another interesting tidbit that came straight from the horses mouth has to do with advertising.. apparently most "starving artist" type musicians love the idea of free advertising. at least that's the case with my guinea pig artist and everyone he plays with. according to him, the best thing that could happen to an unsigned musician who is playing professionally would be to have an album or two skyrocket up the "most downloaded" chart. a group's popularity is apparently what pushes more bodies into the venue, and in turn, what ramps up an artist's income. who woulda thunk it? so, yes, you are completely correct; downloading the entire Metallica catalog is, in fact FUCKING OVER metallica for as much as a thousandth of a percent of their yearly income. especially when you see them play live and buy 5 $10 beers and 2 $20 t-shirts at the venue. but hey, i have to agree with you that its appalling that many people on /. were saying to go after individual infringers, where as now they are completely opposed to the idea. i mean, christ, it's almost as if the socio-economic climate has completely changed in 7 years.. despicable rats always changing their stance on issues every 2/3 of a decade or so.. next thing you know, we'll have republicans challenging a republican president's decisions, or even a government rife with opposition to war.. ...i think you get the idea.

Re:What happened?

[jafiwam]

Hey, if you want to arrogantly troll, how about starting your own thread.

Deliberately misunderstanding the GP and spouting your filth is not going to win you any points here.

hmm

[nomadic]

The fact that it's scheduled on a school day is no big deal. I've never seen a depo scheduled on a weekend.

One day notice is pretty weird, though. Traditionally you clear dates with opposing counsel as professional courtesy, or you at least set it far enough in advance to work things out.

Re:hmm

[dgatwood]

Unless the prosecution's lawyers found out that he had to take a critical test and decided to try to cause as much harm as possible to the defendant for daring to stand up to them....

From their previous tactics, there is no reason to believe that their lawyers have any real sense of ethics or morality. They are like attack dogs who go after the person on whom their masters sick them. Frankly, there is more honor among personal injury lawyers. Chances are, they knew exactly what they were doing.

Frankly, I would recommend following up with the bar association instead, and if that fails, suing the lawyers for harassment. My point is that the lawyers would be wise to be very paranoid until this case is over. Generally, when someone is so blatantly abusive towards another person, there are generally negative consequences.

That said, if I were that kid, I would probably be thinking of ways to cause them harm in return rather than trying to attack the lawyers in court. I could easily see somebody under these conditions breaking into their homes/offices and rearranging the furniture, turning in their kids for dealing drugs, phoning them and playing back sounds from a cock fight. calling them repeatedly in the middle of the night so they don't get any sleep... you know, psyops stuff. Either that or sneaking up to the law offices in the middle of the night and soldering the door locks shut so that the prosecution's lawyers can't show up at the deposition location. Or both.

Maybe even something more subtle like planting the drugs in their kids' lockers (and putting poppy seeds in their food so they test positive for opium when the time comes), disconnecting the building ground so they get a small shock every time they touch any appliance at the office, taping a raw fish under one of the office desks when you show up for the deposition and throwing fresh fruit behind the file cabinet (after about a week, the stench would be overwhelming), spraying cadaverine and/or putrescine in their cars, sticking fake bullet holes to their windshield/hood, taking off all of their lug nuts and putting them in the back seat, fastening their car to the garage door with a safety cable (excuse me, why are you dragging a garage door behind your car?), forging a letter from a judge reminding them of a court appearance at the same time as the deposition, or somehow slipping sodium thiopental into the lawyer's coffee and then deposing him/her on camera (Do you honestly think you have a case? No? Then why are you suing?) and mailing copies of the tape to major news outlets.

Again, not the sorts of tactics I'd recommend, but man, would some of them be fun. :-)

Re:3:30 is far better

[cyphercell]

I think either way, having to show up at court in less than 24 hours is terrifying at any age. Personally, I hate showing up for traffic tickets with a months advance. This just seems like an attempt at disrupting the defendants home life.

They work weekend anyway.

[GodInHell]

Lawyers work weekends as a matter of course. Asking them to put off the deposition till a mutually useful time is no injustice - giving 24hrs notice is.

-GiH

TAKS Test

[FerociousFerret]

The real kicker here is not that it is a school day, but it is during Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test week as well and the one day notice.

Re:TAKS Test

[soft_guy]

it is during Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test week At least he won't be missing anything important.

Re:There may be a conspiracy

[Red Flayer]

Could it be, that the RIAA lawyers actually think that what the RIAA is doing is a really bad idea so they are purposely doing really inflammatory things to get the American populous and judicial system fed up with their antics?

Now, I'm normally a bit cynical, so maybe I'm off base here...

But holy crap, is it really possible to be that optimistic, and if so, where can I get some of what you're on? :)

The RIAA lawyers are doing really inflammatory things because it keeps the issue of copyright infringement in the news. It's to intimidate those who might consider downloading some music instead of being good little consumers and spending $15 at the record store.

Also, it's billable hours -- and when legal actions are contested, it leads to more billable hours. So unless they are working completely off retainer, or a percentage of settlements, it makes good financial sense for lawyers to occasionally take action that they know will be contested, or at least require additional time to deal with. This holds as long as the client doesn't get pissed off, and I'm guessing that the RIAA is not unhappy with the results so far (various pending disputes notwithstanding).

Re:Just say no?

[Shadow Wrought]

You automatically lose the case.

I may not be a lawyer, but I know this to be false. Don't give the RIAA any more power of fear than they already enjoy. Deponents can object, if a witness refuses the moving party can ask for a motion to compel, there are lots of rememdies other than automatically losing. The biggest problem isn't that the kid is going to miss school, its that they are attempting to take his deposition with only 24 hours notice. In my experience as a paralegal, again- IANAL, that is simply poor if not abusive practice.

RIAA's fishing expedition

[t35t0r]

The defendent's attorney said:

The subpoena is being used for patently improper purpose, namely as a fishing expedition by plaintiffs'

That sums up the RIAA's entire strategy.

This is news?

[eno2001]

I think any legal proceedings trump private life regardless of whether you agree with the instigators of said proceedings. That's just the way it works. The only exception I can see is jury duty, where they allow you to miss out if you're in college. Usually.

Hightower's in trouble?

[Rob T Firefly]

Quickly! Get Jones in there to make some funny noises with his voice until Zed scream incoherently and Mahoney makes one of his moving speeches!

School's wasted on the kid anyway

[Shadow Wrought]

His dad is obviously a music pirate, otherwise the RIAA wouldn't be bringing the lawsuit. Since we all know that pirates' sons always takeover the family business, it doesn't take a genius to see that the only thing this kid needs from school is enough math to count all the billions of doallars he's going to steal from the hard working middle managers of the music business.

They're doing him a favor. Really.

What would happen...

[Quiet_Desperation]

...if the kid just ignored the order? Would the RIAA have the cops come and drag him out of his house in cuffs? What if news cameras were there? There needs to be a revelation of this crap to the wider public. Just ponderin'...

Re:School day

[Himring]

It is odd. Lawyers, and especially the riaa, are so typically thoughtful....

It's intentional

[dkgasaway]

I'm convinced the school-day deposition request is very intentional. They want the other kids to know the boy missed an important school day because he was in hot water over file sharing. It's all part of their perverse scare tactics.

Response:

[debrain]

Say your lawyer is busy. You are entitled to your choice of legal representative.

Serving a notice for a sworn deposition on one day's notice is contrary to the rules of professional conduct, and can (and should) result in penalties against the lawyers' clients in court, as well as with with the lawyer regulatory disciplinary authority.

How to avoid RIAA entanglements

[kimvette]

1. Quit downloading RIAA music
2. Do not share RIAA music (help prevent the spread of mindshare) (ugh, I hate buzzwords)
3. Do not buy RIAA music (or if you do, stick to back catalogues from USED CD/record stores)
4. Do not tune to new RIAA music on the radio so you can avoid being tempted to buy new product from RIAA

By doing so, RIAA members will eventually either go broke or go independent, and the independent labels will rise in popularity as their buying power increases beyond that of the dying RIAA cartel.

Re:How to avoid RIAA entanglements

[hackstraw]

Here is a list of successful product boycotts: http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/boycotts/successful boycotts.htm

The differences between these boycotts and an RIAA boycott is that the successful ones were more tied to ethical reasons.

Nobody really wants to boycott the RIAA's artists. The problem is simple. We simply want a different product, but the RIAA people are so stuck into pushing expensive plastic disks on us that we have to then take home, possibly illegally rip them to a usable format. Trash the stupid tracks that we paid for, and then contend with issues like labeling the tracks correctly and getting the relative gain right between different tracks.

The thing that sucks is that there is a clear market for a new method of music distribution and playback, but the asshats that control the content to make this market happen are a decade behind the market, and the only thing they can think of to satisfy the new market is to sue people into submission and force a decade old technology onto willing and potential customers for a new product.

Imagine if the RIAA was suing people for using CDs in the 90s, and only selling LPs, cassettes, and 8 tracks?

That is what they are doing today. CDs in the 90s had advantages over other technologies, and the consumers voted with their dollars to have that format as the dominant one. Today, customers want digital files so they can have more variety in a smaller space than CDs can provide.

The market has spoken, and I don't recommend quitting downloading and buying of RIAA music, but rather I recommend downloading the stuff as you please. I cannot recommend buying a plastic CD, taking it home, and wasting your time to convert the thing so you can play it on your computer and/or digital music player. If you are happy with the CD format, then by all means don't change. But I have hundreds of CDs that I simply don't listen to anymore because they are too much of a PITA to use. I've gone digital with my music, but I am still dissapointed in the effort it takes to get the labeling and the relative track volumes correct, and getting the album art, and all that.

Even "stealing" music for me takes a bunch of my time that I would rather not have to do vs just buying a product or service, but nobody will sell me those, so I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

What happens when a disposition is blown off

[Pi3141592]

Dispositions are required attendance, which is why a subpoena is generally issued to enforce them. If he blows off showing up, the consequences (if any) are entirely up to the judge who issued the subpoena.... who, if particularly pissed off that day, could find him in contempt of court and sentence him to jail time. Under the circumstances, though, I can't see any (reasonable) judge doing this.

Why stop there?

[Anonymous Meoward]

5. Rip 5 copies of your favorite RIAA-produced CD (or song collection from various CDs)

6. Add a track with the following (more or less): "If you enjoy the music on this CD, please make it a point to compensate the artists, but not by buying the CD from which this track came." And add a small explanation for the boycott. Then: "Please make five copies of this CD and distribute randomly, including this track."

7. Place your 5 copies in random yet conspicuous places, with only the phrase "Take me to your CD player" on the front of the disc. Leave them on park benches, in restrooms, on buses, wherever.

Re:News for nerds, stuff that really matters

[Dogtanian]

DIGG!! +5 Funny!

You weren't being serious, were you?

Speaking as someone who grew annoyed with Slashdot's flaws and stopped using it for quite a while, Digg made me appreciate it a whole lot more. The amount of "noise" in the stories (i.e. what GP is complaining about here) is orders of magnitudes higher than on Slashdot, the groupthink is an order of magnitude worse, the comments an order of magnitude more vapid, and... oh, sod it, just read this.

Shows what you know

[Mateo_LeFou]

"Why does the music industry feel it should tamper with the education of our minors just to placate some facile legal action?"

Dude, get a clue: these are *pirates, they don't care about education. All they care about is stealing, stealing, stealing other people's intellectual property.

If anything is tampering with their education, it's the alien viruses in their brains, which impel them to download our songs for *nothing, thereby descrating our intellectual property. The same intellectual property provided for in the Constitution, section IV, which says

"Intellectual property rocks. We should have lots of it."

Judge Atlas will sort this out.

[Anonymous Coward]

OK - I am posting anonymously because I am a lawyer. First - When you subpoena someone to appear for deposition, Rule 30(b)(1) says you must give them reasonable notice. The Court is very, very likely to say that 24 hours notice is not reasonable notice. Second - It is extremely bad form, though not actually improper, to just notice someone for deposition without talking to them first about the date. Just leads to exactly this kind of problem. Third - RIAA is represented by lawyers who know better. Gardere Wynn is a Really Big Firm. They know better than to behave this way in front of Judge Atlas. Shame on them. Federal Court practices demands a higher standard of behavior on the part of the lawyers. Fourth - You have to properly serve the witness. Emailing the mom's lawyer in an attempt to serve the kids is not proper service. However, it does make sense to email mom's lawyer and ASK whether he would accept service so that you don't have to send a process server out to serve the kids. All in all, I would not expect Judge Atlas to be pleased with Gardere, Wynn's behavior here. Judge Atlas is a good judge. I'd expect her to make RIAA play according to the rules here. One of the great things about federal court is that the judges are generally of very high caliber, are extremely/proudly independent, and don't take no shit off of nobody. As long as you play by the rules, are prepared and don't waste the judge's time the solo lawyer with a brand new law license will be treated the same as hordes of grey haired lawyers from a mega-firm.

Re:Absurd

[Lithdren]

And as the mods have already pointed out, what does this have to do with this article?

Right, wrong, left, right, it doesn't matter. The kid was told to show up in court under penalty of law with a 24 hour notice, on a school day, that was a state exame day required for graduation.

If that isn't unreasonable, I dont know what is. This kid hasn't been shown to be guilty of anything, thats what the court is trying to do. Is it right to yank kids out of school on VERY important days, because someone believes he, or someone he's closly related to, MAY have POSSIBLY violated a CIVIL law, and isn't by the very nature of the beast, a criminal act?

Should they be allowed to strongarm people, and scare them into settling out of court for outrageous fees and fines, without being given enough time to even have a laywer review the damn situation? Should this kid, who again, is not yet proven to be guilty of anything, have his future jepordized by missing quite easily one of the most vital days of the school year, because some multi-billion dollar company thinks he might have copied that floppy?

There's your damn wild west.

Re:3:30 is far better

[PriceIke]

Then he should be able to say, "No, I can't meet you then. I have class. I can meet you between the hours of (blahblah) on (blahblah) days."

Why the hell is this even news. This is about scheduling a fucking meeting.

Re:Go figure - it doesn't matter

[Mockylock]

Good post... much agreed.

For example... My wife was caught with a basic speeding citation a week ago. She called in to see if she could pay it over the phone. She was denied to pay before the court date unless she came in, in person.

Fine and dandy... right?

Among the charges that you COULD pay for without going to court, or prepay, nonetheless... WERE:
Wreckless Driving
DUI or DWI
Possession of Marijuana and/or intent to distribute.

I don't actually think that you should even be arrested for marijuana possession, considering the law was based on lies... But, it's still fucked up.

So...These kids have to go to court for sharing music and spend money on court costs, lawyers, fines or fees to the plantiff.. but a guy who almost kills them by driving drunk, or gets caught with a federally proclaimed "controlled substance", can pay a $500 fine FROM HIS LIVINGROOM!

In all reality, my son could go to RIAA headquarters with a bag of weed while drunk, go inside and beat the piss out of a few of them... GET CAUGHT, then pay LESS fines than he would if he hosted X amount of songs on his computer.

Hmm. Maybe I'm on to something. How many people are at RIAA and where is it located?

Give 'em all detention

[HikingStick]

Well, if that's how they want to play, I say the school should send detention notices to every one of those buggers. If they don't show up, call their parents!

Off topic:Prays?

[Secrity]

My post said currency, it did not include coins.

According to the Department of the Treasury, "The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War."

"In God We Trust" was added to US currency in 1957 as an act of religious and political propaganda, McCarthyism was at its peak at that time.

Re:Go figure - it doesn't matter

[blueforce]

You're absolutely right. He was accused - innocent until proven guilty.

On the other hand, "violent criminal" fits since he *shot her in the face with the intent to kill her*, which isn't altogether a "sane" or "rational" reaction for an innocent person.

On the other hand, rhetorically speaking of course, of all the innocent people, who should be held in an over-crowded detention center vs. sent home - innocent "accused rapist" or innocent "accused pot head"?

I agree with your assertion that accusations of rape are sometimes unfounded and unfair - Duke comes to mind - but when it comes down to brass tacks, I'd rather see the non-violent, and/or non-personal crime perpetrators go free when a decision like that has to be made. Of course, if petty crimes like marijuana possession weren't pursued as vigorously as rape and attempted murder one could argue that the detention center wouldn't have been full in the first place.

I'm not now, nor have I ever been a drug user... well, alcohol.... lots of alcohol.... caffeine too...., but I think the war on drugs, among other things, is a terrible tragic disaster for our country and economy.