RIAA's "Making Available" Theory Is Tested

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The RIAA's argument that merely 'making files available' is in and of itself a copyright infringement, argued in January in Elektra v. Barker (awaiting decision), is raging again, this time in a White Plains, New York, court in Warner v. Cassin. Ms. Cassin moved to dismiss the complaint; the RIAA countered by arguing that 'making available' on a p2p file sharing network is a violation of the distribution right in 17 USC 106(3). Ms. Cassin responded, pointing out the clear language of the statute, questioning the validity of the RIAA's authorities, and arguing that the Court's acceptance of the RIAA's theory would seriously impact the Internet. The case is scheduled for a conference on September 14th, at 10 AM (PDF), at the federal courthouse, 300 Quarropas Street, White Plains, New York, in the courtroom of Judge Stephen C. Robinson. The conference is open to the public."

Comments

Re:As much as i hate the RIAA....WRONG TARGETS

[timmarhy]

"Excuse me, but your silence is deafening."

no.. i'm just busy responding to the other 20 retarded comments posted. out of all of you only one person has made any kind of decent comment. read previous posts. otherwise.. your own silence is deafening?

Re:As much as i hate the RIAA....

[cliffski]

If he had, they would no longer have the book or the movie while it was in his possession. Whenever people criticise piracy, slashdot readers always say its fine because the original guy still has his copy. That is the point, you did not borrow something, you copies it, without the permission of the person who created it originally. That's both morally and legally wrong, unless you are a communist and believe in such things.

I no more have the 'right' to freely copy the game 'bioshock' without paying for it, than I do to go into my local store and take whatever food I want. Someone worked hard to produce both products, and if their products are good enough for me to want, I should compensate them fairly for their work.
If I want to voluntarily go without the bioshock game for a week while I lend it to a friend that's fine, but if we both want to be free to enjoy the game unrestricted at our leisure, then we need to purchase two copies. This is entirely reasonable.