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German Prosecutors Won't Help RIAA Counterpart

Posted by Zonk on from the will-never-happen-here dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "A German court decision ruled that the European counterpart to the RIAA cannot invoke criminal proceedings over petty file sharing incidents. The goal was to to find out from ISPs the identity of alleged file-sharing subscribers; the requests have been refused as the judge saw the the proceedings as not in the 'public interest', and little or no economic damage was shown to have been caused to the record companies. Offering a few copyright-protected music tracks via a P2P network client was 'a petty offense,' the court declared. Within days, German prosecutors have now indicated that they will no longer permit the use of 'criminal proceedings' to procure subscriber information."

7 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. If only... by InvisblePinkUnicorn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now if only American court rooms cared at all about the "public interest", rather than the special interests that have so much power, maybe we'd start seeing similar sound-mindedness.

  2. Where these cases belong... by Stanistani · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The RIAA should be forced to take these cases to Small Claims Court, where they would have little to no subpoena power, be limited in the amount of award, and have to explain to crusty, overworked judges why they're wasting their time.

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    1. Re:Where these cases belong... by Cadallin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Precisely. Can you imagine the disgust in a judges voice the first time he hears one of these, "You mean you're suing over the equivalent of sharing a song taped from radio?" Dismissal. With Prejudice.

  3. Deutschland Uber Alles! by tjstork · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hooray for Germany! Is it still bad to say this?

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    1. Re:Deutschland Uber Alles! by whopub · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hooray for Germany! Is it still bad to say this? Sorry, you still can't say that. Atrocities like the fact that David Hasselhoff's records sold well in Germany are still fresh in our collective memory!
  4. Wow by AlphaLop · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I wonder if I am too old to learn to speak German...

    Yet another country passes us on the personal freedom issue.

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  5. WTF are you talking about? by Funkysapien · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Riiiight.... and the abundance of those "muslim terroists", "turbin-headed children" and "women killers" in Hamburg and the whole of Germany explains the huge number of terroist attacks in Germany, doesn't it? Which is, by the way, ZERO for at least the last 10 years. Geez, what the hell are you talking about? And what is "the Bundesfraus" supposed to be? That word doesn't even exist in german language (and yes, german is my native language).