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Judge Rejects RIAA 'Making Available' Theory
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "A federal judge in Connecticut has rejected the RIAA's 'making available' theory, which is the basis of all of the RIAA's peer to peer file sharing cases. In Atlantic v. Brennan, in a 9-page opinion [PDF], Judge Janet Bond Arterton held that the RIAA needs to prove 'actual distribution of copies', and cannot rely — as it was permitted to do in Capitol v. Thomas — upon the mere fact that there are song files on the defendant's computer and that they were 'available'. This is the same issue that has been the subject of extensive briefing in two contested cases in New York, Elektra v. Barker and Warner v. Cassin. Judge Arterton also held that the defendant had other possible defenses, such as the unconstitutionality of the RIAA's damages theory and possible copyright misuse flowing from the record companies' anticompetitive behavior."
I'm gonna shut the window so those flying pigs won't get inside and interfere with me knitting a muffler for the devil.
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful
Who the hell gave them the power to just wantonly dispense fair and balanced justice like this? Judges have always been empowered to make huge decisions, but this new behavior is becoming quite alarming. Common sense has been creeping into recent rulings with alarming frequency, and many decisions seem to be based on information, not cash-backed opinions.
I hope this behavior doesn't continue... the entire American way of life is at stake!
I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
Ah, I just thought of something to make your comment even better! Next time, try "I'm going to _secure my windows_ so those flying pigs..." Same meaning, slightly rearranged, infinitely more Slashdot appeal!