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Ray Beckerman Sued By the RIAA
An anonymous reader writes "Ray Beckerman, known for questioning the RIAAs legal tactics (also for frequent Slashdot contributions), was sued by the RIAA over his blog Recording Industry vs. People. In question is the 'vexatious' claims that the RIAAs legal tactics is a 'sham.' Beckerman is quoted as saying that the litigation against him is 'frivolous and irresponsible.'"
they are some pest that needs to be eradicated for rational functioning of u.s. legal system. they need to be made an example of, for future generations.
Read radical news here
He's not really being sued, as best I can tell from the article; instead, the RIAA filed a motion for sanctions against him personally (as opposed to just his client) in one of his cases.
Beckerman is now also being sued for saying that the litigation against him is "frivolous and irresponsible.""
Doh.
I believe strongly in the idea of free speech, and don't much care for censorship or other speech restrictions. That said, on some level I think I can agree with the idea that lawyers are part of our legal justice system, and therefore to be held to a higher standard of conduct than we mere mortals. I mean, I have no problem saying the same thing about judges or police officers. I certainly believe they should be held to higher standards.
But the idea that the RIAA would say of Ray's blog, "Such vexatious conduct demeans the integrity of these judicial proceedings and warrants this imposition of sanctions." is completely beyond absurd.
The RIAA has been conducting a multimillion dollar ad campaign in an attempt to paint copyright infringement as a crime in the same class or worse as theft, and further attempting to equate their inflated 'losses' due to 'piracy'. Ray might joke and jab more than is 'proper' or 'expected' as a lawyer, but in my mind, that makes him a better agent of the court, not worse. And I fail to see how this lawsuit is anything other than a legal attack upon Ray in an attempt to smear his good name and discredit him as a lawyer.
A steaming cup of soykaf would be real wiz right now.
Yah I didn't know the meaning either:
Main Entry:
vexatious Listen to the pronunciation of vexatious
Pronunciation:
\-shs\
Function:
adjective
Date:
1534
1 a: causing vexation : distressing b: intended to harass 2: full of disorder or stress : troubled
FTA:
The RIAA said Beckerman, one of the nation's few attorneys who defends accused file sharers, "has maintained an anti-recording industry blog during the course of this case and has consistently posted virtually every one of his baseless motions on his blog seeking to bolster his public relations campaign and embarrass plaintiffs," the RIAA wrote (.pdf) in court briefs. "Such vexatious conduct demeans the integrity of these judicial proceedings and warrants this imposition of sanctions."
BASELESS motions? Sure, what lawyer wouldn't want to bolster his PR, but maybe, JUST maybe, the motions ARE baseless?
EMBARRASS plaintiffs? Look, if you are suing someone, you better BE PREPARED. It's as simple as that. There's nothing about getting embarrassed if you are going to sue.
The RIAA really sounds like it's going out on a whim here. Maybe suing your own customers is a bad idea, do they get it yet? Geesh, I wish the RIAA would just GO AWAY!
We've seen the "I sue dead people" and granny-no-computer on the business end of a (dia)RIAA lawsuit.. but this takes the cake.
Cant they dismiss this lawsuit on grounds of anti-SLAPP? He's here all the time and his blog letting us know whats happening. I've not witnessed any "RIAA are convicted murderers" or anything that would be represented as libel. He just tells who's suing who, based upon X evidence, and results of said cases.
IIRC, isnt there a ground that a judge can take away "lawsuit powers" when used as a weapon, rather than as to pursue 'truth and justice'?
This is probably my favourite part of the situation - "Readers should note the cover sheet (.pdf) of the court filing lists Richard Gabriel as the RIAA's lead counsel. Gabriel was named a Colorado judge in May and no longer works on behalf of the RIAA." Yeah. Ok. Good work there guys.
Go get em' Ray!!
I guess the RIAA decided to take a page from the MPAA's playbook on this one.
Too bad NYCL can't comment on the suit.
Time to get the EFF on their collective ass.
http://pinopsida.com
Honestly, this is a fortunate turn of events. This gentleman is at least capable of defending himself against whatever accusations RIAA is making against him, while at the same time consuming time and legal resources that the fuckwits at RIAA could be using to put another party in legal jeopardy.
In fact, since this is not the same as the boilerplate legal case that RIAA makes against thousands of consumers annually, it probably also consumed more resources. We should all be thankful that RIAA has chosen this course of action.
-- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
The RIAA said Beckerman, one of the nation's few attorneys who defends accused file sharers
How DARE he!!!
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
You know, what this comes down to is plain and simple. If everyone payed the artist including the recording industry, then we would not have this problem. Is there a reason you want an album and then won't pay for it? Just GO BUY THE CD or BUY THE MP3'S. If the artist intended for you to have th emusic for free, they would put it up on their myspace account for download. Since they DON'T, PAY FOR IT!!! This includes movies. You don't need something that bad you need to steal it do you. I wish all sides would just grow up on this deal and REALIZE the only people getting rich are the stupid Lawyers.
Are the pigopolists looking for some kind of unilateral gag order?
"Mom, make him shut up, he's talking about us!"
RIAA legal team == tards of the worst order. When the revolution comes, they won't survive long enough to be stood up against the wall.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
if employees of the RIAA step outside and it's raining, they immediately think of suing God.
some people, you say "hi" to them, they say "howdy." some folks say "F# off." RIAA workers say, "you bastard pirate, I'm taking you to court!"
the world will not be in its right orbit, the climate will continue to deteriorate, yea, even Wacko bin Looney will plot and cackle in his Secret Location, as long as the RIAA and its evil tradesmen continue to run rampant across the legal system.
the center of all the evil is the RIAA
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
This guy seems to have bothered you, I have never read his blog but, as you find it so threating there must be some value in it. Thanks for the recommendation.
Understanding complicated matters, such as law, is always hard because of the bad advice that goes about. I commend you RIAA for your services to education.
This is the kind of drama you need popcorn for!
From TFA
has maintained an anti-recording industry blog during the course of this case and has consistently posted virtually every one of his baseless motions on his blog seeking to bolster his public relations campaign and embarrass plaintiffs
This also makes it sound like that's exactly what they're trying to stop, him actually informing people (us) about their baseless cases. I wonder if they're going to seek a gag order?
Who will pay his legal fees?!
Let me be the first to point out what everyone's been thinking.
Thank.
You.
RIAA.
Morons.
I mean, honestly. We all are acting all high and mighty, but what we're really thinking is,
"What IDIOT up there thought it would be a good idea to sue one of the most competent, intelligent, LAWYERS who has already expressed a will to fight against their unsound tactics"
Lets take odds, who wants to bet they try to pull out of this the minute someone realizes what they just did, and someone is definitly getting sacked.
You never realize how much manually made unmanaged "linked" lists suck, till you have src.link.link.link.link...
In question is the "vexatious" claims that the RIAAs legal tactics is a "sham"
The best way to show that criticism of your valiant, righteous lawsuits is a sham is to sue the critic for being so irritatingly vexatious. Now I (and I imagine this goes for everyone else here on Slashdot) take the RIAA completely seriously. I suspect a million geeks just stopped filesharing a few minutes ago, and that the torrents of the tubes have all gone dead: Seeders 0, Leechers 0. The RIAA has won.
Except ... all sarcasm aside, this is really desperate.
I honestly have no idea how much time Ray is going to have to put into this, but is it possible that the RIAA is suing him only to keep him busy dealing with his own case? If it prevents him from having as much time to work on other cases in which the RIAA is involved, would it be worth it for them to create some fairly frivolous suit to keep Ray's hands tied?
Maybe I'm just reading into it, but you'd think with the amount of cash the RIAA has to throw around they could hire a lawyer that could develop a plan like this. Is it even feasible that something like this would suck up enough of his time to prevent him from being able to handle other cases?
Let's look at the tactics: RIAA sues many people... and publicizes it. Gets poked in the eye by suing dead people and people without computers...(in the mix)... Now. Things don't look good from a PR standpoint. What to do... what to do... Hmmm. How about getting rid of the defense lawyer!! Then things would be much smoother!! Maybe we can push him and silence him!!!!
Nice practice you got there Ray. 'Be a shame if anything happened to it.
"The ferrets, they're every where I tell you!"
We've all seen quite a number of postings from Ray around here, and I'd really like to hear from him. Yo Ray, what's the deal? Tell us you're going to put the RIAA out of business this time around...
"The only constant in the universe is change." - Unknown author
"Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLAPP Good luck, Ray, I hope you own these bastards!
Who will pay Beckerman's legal fees? An interesting question. I'm sure that Mr Beckerman is well aware that the lawyer wo represents himself has a fool for a client.
embarrass plaintiffs (riaa)
I had no idea that a stinking pile of dog-turd was capable of being embarrassed. Next you'll tell that it's sentient.
The RIAA sues someone who can actually defend himself! Should be interesting...
"Is there a reason you want an album and then won't pay for it? Just GO BUY THE CD or BUY THE MP3'S. If the artist intended for you to have th emusic for free, they would put it up on their myspace account for download. Since they DON'T, PAY FOR IT!!! "
I've tried saying that here before, but you run into a brick wall of nitpicking denial. Somehow the idea that it's not physical media makes it impossible to steal. Or it's the record companies that lose out, the artist gets shafted anyway. Or real artists should just want their music listened to. Like there are no costs involved in creating music.
I've long since reconciled myself to the fact that while I believe in intellectual property rights, most people around me don't. Of course the vast majority of those people have never tried to make a living by producing something for the mass market.
I for one, Welcome our RIAA overlords, except.... ... I will fight you all until my shifting last bit.
---
Die with your bits on.
The more aware the general public is of the morally-dubious position of the labels, the less chance the labels have of pushing through "settlements" under threat of litigation.
This is a good thing (not for Ray, obviously).
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
Mr Beckerman's time is not valueless, and sadly human cloning is still not possible so he's also a finite resource. These RIAA asshats are clearly aiming to distract him from the fine work he does. If he's too busy fighting on his own behalf they'll remove one of their biggest threats. Their strategy is sound.
/. to tangibly show support: with cash for a Beckerman defense fund. Does anyone know how to set that up?
I'm reminded of the adage that a person who represents themself in court has a "fool for a client". Is this a case where someone like the ACLU or EFF could help Mr Beckerman? Maybe he will need to hire a lawyer to handle this nonsense so he can continue fighting the good fight? If the latter is the case then maybe it's time for
Ray I'd be more than willing to send some cash your way to help you fight this. I'm sure others would as well.
What is that saying - An attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client? Given that, I don't doubt this will cost you to defend.
Cheers,
~Dave
This appears to just be a motion for sanctions for "repeated discovery abuses" (which the RIAA no doubt has lots of experience with), which is different than an entirely new lawsuit just to pursue the matter. Courts can award sanctions against an attorney and/or against a party when they are justified by impermissible tactics, delays, frivolous lawsuits or motions, etc.
So what if it is admissible? The purpose of a SLAPP suit is to shut the target up, not to win. If he stops, they win.
He should consult with an attorney with experience in the field on everything he posts. Oh, he is one....never mind.
Fight Spammers!
All,
Mr. Beckerman is, as most of us know, one of the most respected members of the Slashdot community. He's posted many, many stories and innumerable comments, all with great insight and actual legal information from a real lawyer (yes, HIAL). Over quite a long time, he's become one of us, and he probably has the highest karma in the history of Slashdot. He's done a great deal to help us all, and now it's time to return the favor. There are a lot of comments here about how dumb a move this is on the RIAA's part, and how they'll finally get embarrassed by NewYorkCountryLawyer himself. I happen to agree.
However, Ray is only one man, and the RIAA has the means, and probably the will, to throw so many of their lawyers and arcane procedural motions at him to make his personal life a living hell. So it's time now that we thank him and make it clear that were behind him. As for how, that's up to you. Maybe send encouraging emails. If he comments here, reply with your support. Spread the word about the RIAA trying to sue a legal critic into silence. Please, everyone who's been enlightened, informed, and amused by Ray's comments here, do your part in return.
Those who anthropomorphize science and/or nature already believe in an intelligent designer.
When people will be looking back at the madness, deceit, lies and coercion that has become so commonplace with some of the RIAA's strong-arm tactics, someone like Ray will stand as an exemplary model of integrity and fairness, refusing to simply kowtow to the unreasonable demands of a group of corporate entities who have demonstrated that they are utterly unable to serve their original mission (i.e.: be creative in providing the public entertainment in changing times) and re-invent themselves in the face of a mutating marketplace and technological tools, by providing the public with easy, ubiquitous and unencumbered access to their catalogs of copyrights, and have instead made it their new specialty to sue those who could have been their best customers.
Being slapped with such silly and pointless lawsuits over a blog is just a mark of how desperate some of those behind these campaigns of harassment really are, and can only serve to highlight that they are slowly running out of options of who else to blame for their own demise into obsolescence.
Hang in there!!
Z.
off topic, i know, but the category at least should be* "your rights online", which the AC paradigm is intended to protect. for greater justice, clear out your own bigotry before criticizing someone else.
*all p2p or other file sharing related litigation from the media industry associations should be placed in YRO, imho
clearly, you hate freedom. i must kindly ask you to get the fuck out of america, not for your nationality of origin, but your diametrically opposed to our values views.
ps. if you go to norway or sweden, or most other european countries, and you cant speak AT LEAST english, you're gonna get funny looks. preferrably you would be able to speak the language the locals use in daily life, but if not, english is a passable "common". that people think they can go to a country where not only everyone speaks english, but most people ONLY speak english, is silly. i do not speak spanish, and refuse to learn to accommodate people coming into the united states, legally or not. it is their task to assimilate into our society, not the other way around. call it ignorant if you want, but i'm not learning a new language every time i get a neighbor who cant talk mine and wont try to learn.
In reading between the lines, I think it is important that he is not being sued for calling the Media Sentry investigations Illegal. If the RIAA thought they had a case in which to sue, I would have expected an attack on this. The silence is deafening.
I wonder if Ray can keep his blog entries up if he simply stated the line in contention as in my opinion.
The stating an opinion as fact is the basis of the action. His opinion may indeed be fact. It would be interesting if the RIAA lost and it was proven in court to be fact. I think the RIAA may have a tiger by the tail on this one.
The truth shall set you free!
They called the game, they lobbed a weak lawsuit for the opening move - now go out there and WIN!
Go Ray!
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
milk it for all its worth
this is called free public relations
when you ignore your critics, they tend to fade away
but when you attack your critics, you stimulate neutral party's interests in the issue under contention, and often times, if you are on the right side of history, summon new support for the good cause
keep up the good fight ray. consider the RIAA suing you a gift: you yourself are now fodder for newsworthiness
thank you RIAA, you fucking morons
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Which button do i press for all of you to shut the fuck up?
Not long ago the legal campaign against consumers was determined to be an utter failure in dissuading piracy. It's only result was alienation and disgruntlement of consumers.
So now they've moved on to sueing lawyers in an attempt to scare or silence them?
It seems rather farcical...but so was the RIAA from it's formation.
In Sweden, we would say that they have been shitting in the blue cabinet (skitit i det blå skåpet).
Go get them Ray!
/ The Arrow
"How lovely you are. So lovely in my straightjacket..." - Nny
I'm not sure they've really thought this through... according to TFA, one of the things they're accusing Ray of doing is trying to make the RIAA look bad. He doesn't need to: they do a pretty good job of it themselves.
If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
So, the RIAA is suing a lawyer? Let's see. They've sued people in the past who didn't have a law degree (I assume). Are they seriously suing someone with a law degree, or do I misunderstand the article?
Anyone care to guess how that will turn out?
the power button
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
When conservatives talk about "abuse of the legal system" they almost always seem to mean "people who sue corporation for damages when said corporation does them harm" rather than "corporations who use their army of salaried lawyers to abuse individuals who expose corrupt and harmful behavior of corporations".
There is a huge assault being perpetrated on the Rule of Law in the United States by people who would rather see a more "orderly" nation where corporations are free to do, well, anything.
Here's a warning. If you see someone running for political office, and there are over a hundred lobbyists involved in his campaign, it's a good bet that his (or her) number one priority is not going to be the well-being of citizens. Fortunately, anyone who would try to run for office with a campaign staff of nothing but lobbyists would end up getting laughed right out of the election.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Well, I kinda doubt that even the RIAA can be _that_ stupid. (Though, funnily enough, every time I say that, someone or some entity promptly proves me wrong.)
Let's face it, today's lawyers are tomorrow's judges. I'm also going to take a wild guess that even today's judges, no matter how much they enjoy making lawyers work to earn their play, will not take it very lightly when faced with an attempt to bully the legal profession as a whole.
_Especially_ in civil cases, where really the whole standard of evidence is along the lines of "who's better at persuading the judge", you don't want to start from the position of the known bully abusing the legal system and work your way up from there. So the judges are one group they'd be smart to not annoy.
Also let's not forget that lawyers do have very large and powerful professional associations. They don't exist just to provide some exams for their members. And they tend to know the laws, precedents and available avenues. Even _if_ you could somehow bully one or two of them into submission, I think any attempt to basically carpet-bomb their profession as a whole into no longer being able to do its job (on some cases), might find some rather stiff resistance there. Sooner or later you'd find yourself not just against one or two lawyers, but against an entity bigger than yourself and more adept at working the system than you are.
As I was saying, I don't think that even the RIAA is _that_ stupid.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
It wouldn't surprise me if this ploy by the RIAA was simply an attempt to distract Mr. Beckerman, who has become a bit of a thorn in their side. If he's busy defending himself he won't have time to defend other RIAA victims.
Wow the RIAA could really be hoist by their own petard.
Ray I hope you countersue those bastards with everything you can think of. In fact how about beating them at their own game and tying them up with masses of labour-intensive legal red tape for years?
Copyright makes a *temporary* artificial property out of people's words and other art. People with vastly distorted views of the world and what they can get away with unnoticed built their business on the model of making governments remove the temporary nature of the artificial property. This is why it it amoral and unethical. It is a very similar situation to the financial crisis in that the governments are in essence propping up a business model that otherwise could not exist. It will eventually collapse under its own weight, but will continue to do a great deal of damage in its death throes. In the meanwhile they will pursue their old tactic of changing the rules to suit their wishes, and extort us.
Dammit, Edna St. Vincent Millay ought to be in the public domain by now! The only reason she isn't is that there is a large franchise whose author died after her (Walt Disney). Hint: come up with something new and we'll buy it while your royalty period is still active.
12 year flat Copyright will fix this. But that's not going to happen.
"If still these truths be held to be
Self evident."
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
clearly, you hate freedom. i must kindly ask you to get the fuck out of america, not for your nationality of origin, but your diametrically opposed to our values views.
Someone might have believed that line 10 years ago, but considering the state of the US at the moment, it is obviously just flamebait. The American government certainly doesn't value freedom, and the citizens aren't doing anything about that, so how can you claim that freedom is at the core of your values? Is this the freedom to have a gun and be able to say whatever you want, as long as you don't actually do anything about it, like have a non government-sactioned protest (which is pretty much the dumbest idea ever)?
which is totally what she said
A lawsuit in and of itself really doesn't mean anything when anyone in the United States who fills out the forms and pays the filing fees can be scheduled to be heard in court. It doesn't matter what you write in the reason part of the form, the court will be happy to take your money and file the papers. I think that this is a foolish move on the part of the RIAA. Mr. Beckerman already has superior knowledge of the relevant issues and extensive research products and documentation to buttress his defense against RIAA allegations of "vexatious" claims. Indeed, the RIAA themselves are more obviously guilty of being vexatious litigants themselves, especially in light of their targeting of Beckerman to silence legitimate criticism(s) of their (the RIAA's) abuses. I hope that Mr. Beckerman makes them pay for their error in this case and gets maximum legal fees and damages out of the RIAA for their shameful attempts to silence his legitimate criticism. Perhaps a SLAPP counter-suit on behalf of Mr. Beckerman against the RIAA is in order here? IANAL, but perhaps someone who knows more could comment (Mr. Beckerman himself will probably want to avoid making comments about pending litigation involving himself or a client, as is usual for any attorney, so I will understand if he doesn't reply to this thread).
Beckerman has not been sued by RIAA. Instead, RIAA brought a motion for sanctions in a case Beckerman was defending.
The motion is not aimed primarily at his blog. The motion requests sanctions in response to other motions Beckerman filed in the case. It also requests sanctions for the defendant's discovery conduct.
Hate the **AA all you want, but wait until the facts are in on this story. Did Beckerman have any reasonable basis for those motions he filed? Did his client destroy and/or hide evidence? The judge will sort it out.
...if anyone needed the new Metallica album? Just saying.
Free gift from the RIAA, a "thank you" for your support!
first, get a clue that anyone who talks about a topic is not necessarily an american, an alien wanting to be an american or any other shit.
im a turk living in a tourism resort in mediterranean coast. my english far exceeds what should i know. therefore im in no way obliged to fulfill your linguistic expectations in regard to english.
another advice - learn to value content over presentation.
Read radical news here
If you hadn't sued Ray I would never have heard about the blog! Watch out, if you whistle a song in public you better pay that royalty.
Did not mean to freak anyone out, but I did call NYCL this morning and let him know he has support from the people. Sorry about that Mr. Beckerman
Anyone care to throw in a few bucks? I'm in for $20.
If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.
press 4 to understand the reasons for being allowed to post anonymously!
i did, and was told that it had more to do with allowing rude bigots insulting anyone they want than protecting privacy and freedom of speech.
learly, you hate freedom. i must kindly ask you to get the fuck out of america, not for your nationality of origin, but your diametrically opposed to our values views.
i would, if i had been there. since im not there, and dont plan to, (unless the joke your country has been turned into by the shit you voted into power in 2000 changes), your views on this are irrelevant.
Read radical news here
No. Accusations in a court of law are privileged communication and have been traditionally recognized as exempt.
Under the common law, an act of libel used to have strict liability on the falsity of one's claims*, with intent only required for the act of publication, so there would have been very serious legal implications if one could've been sued for libel for statements made in court back in the day. If that were possible, then any plaintiff (and many defendants making counterclaims) who lost in court would be guilty of libel -- they would've deliberately published a statement that happened to be determined to be false by a court of law, and their statements would tend to be the sort of thing to harm one's reputation if true.
(* This is no longer true. See New York Times Co. v. Sullivan and Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. .)
Lawyers who knowingly press false claims though can be caught be civil procedure sanctions for not acting in "good faith" and related torts for barratry and the like (... like the one the RIAA is suing Mr. Beckerman with). The standard for winning on those can be pretty high, though. Courts disfavor slapping down people for suing over things that there's even the slightest chance they could legitimately win on unless their behavior is egregious.
Not knowing anything more about the body of law he's being sued under, I won't comment further on the possible merits (or lack thereof) of the RIAA's case. However, there's no libel case against them for this. (And even if the communication wasn't privileged, under NY Times v. Sullivan, Mr. Beckerman would have a hard time prevailing as a public figure given the "actual malice" standard for defamation of public figures established there.)
(IANAL. Do not rely on this information in figuring out what you can get away with.)
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Hey, how about a legitimate link to the wikipedia article on New York Times Co. v. Sullivan ?
(No idea how that happened.)
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
As I understand the RIAA is not complaining about the content of his blog but that, in their view, he brings groundless claims against the RIAA which would unnecessarily consume court resources and the resources of the RIAA. It has nothing to do with the content of his blog. The blog is mentioned but, so far as I can tell, only to bolster their argument that the claims might be devoid of legal merit.
I should add the usual rider that I am not a lawyer and this may be utter nonsense.
What happened to the Free State Project? The idea was to get 20,000 people to all move to New Hampshire and vote for local, then state, then national governments that respect freedoms. In almost 8 years, they've managed to collect a total of 8,500 Americans who care enough about freedom to be willing to move house within five years.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
call it ignorant if you want, but i'm not learning a new language every time i get a neighbor who cant talk mine and wont try to learn.
Clearly you don't have time to learn a second language. You've barely mastered your first.
hey it worked the voices finely stopped.
Hot damn, that's an awesome idea. I did too, and I'm even getting a nifty t-shirt in the process. Wow, I think I just became an activist. Way to go, RIAA!
Here's the link, to everyone else who is sick of just sitting there waiting for the problem to be solved by other people.
Damn, I don't even download copyrighted stuff, and what the RIAA/MPAA is doing makes me sick.
Right. Good luck, anony^H^H^H^H^H Ray.
Any sufficiently simple magic can be passed off as mere advanced technology.
It's pretty scary when one side of a party tries to silence the other side, especially in cases like this where it is pretty much a public matter.
Now my lawsuit over the shoddy job my roof got repaired...I wouldn't put that on the interwebs, but plenty of people do.
As I see it, that's their right, and woe betide those who seek to silence others.
I wonder if Ray can keep his blog entries up if he simply stated the line in contention as in my opinion.
"in my opinion" is not a magic word that lets you defame people with impunity.
No one has a right to their *own* opinion. They have a right to the TRUTH.
Thanks for the support. The RIAA's motion is frivolous, and I will be responding to it in short order. The responsive papers are due October 13th.
It's just an obvious attempt on their part to weasel out of their liability for attorneys fees, after torturing this innocent woman for the past 3 years.
Some folks have indicated an interest in contributing financially.
Anyone who wants to contribute to Ms. Lindor can do so here. Anyone who wants to contribute to the Expert Witness Defense Fund, which helps people like Ms. Lindor with hiring experts and tech consultants can do so here. Anyone who wants to contribute to me, to help me with the work I do in my blogging and getting the word out, can do so here. Another way to help out my blog is to make purchases through the affiliate ads I post on the blog. (If there are products or services you're looking for that aren't represented there, let me know, and I'll try to get affiliate ads posted for them.
Here is my post providing the details of the accusations.
The RIAA's litigation campaign is in its death throes, as are the 4 big record companies who are behind it. I guess this is the way dying hyenas act, they lash out. Not to worry, they will still lose.
Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful
If he has problems keeping his entries up, could /. arrange to host them for him? This is a news site, and that's news, right?
No good deed goes unpunished. - Avon, Blake's 7
The AC paradigm was intended to encourage important information from people in sensitive positions. The fact that any Joe Schmoe can use and abuse it is a unfortunate, yet necessary by-product. Unless you are in a sensitive position, no justification for being allowed to post AC means that you ought to. And if you choose to when you don't have to, people may criticize or ridicule you (It's their freedom of speech, too, whether they post AC or not).
True freedom means that you shouldn't need AC. You post AC because you are not free, or because you are afraid of freedom. If you want to be super-free, then You should leave the U.S., since by necessity you must give up certain freedoms to participate in a democracy. Otherwise, you must be willing to concede that willingness to give up certain freedoms =/= you hate freedom. Lately I wonder if people here in Canada are becoming more free and libertarian than people in the US.
Unless maybe I'm just over-thinking the whole thing :-P
What's the value of information that you don't know?
You know you're doing something right when your opponents try to cheat to win; you know you're really making progress when they start attacking you directly.
"We are Microsoft. You shall be assimilated. Competition is futile."
Wow! They really have no shame trying to silence online criticism with a SLAP.
These guys need to be taken down.
Clearly the RIAA believes if they can threaten defense lawyers with bankruptcy for doing nothing more than vigorously defending their clients with little chance of full payment even when they win, they can eliminate all skilled opposition against them.
To say that the RIAA is Scum is an insult to Scum.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
The RIAA is not suing Ray Beckerman!
This is not a lawsuit or countersuit. Instead, it is a Rule 37 Motion for Sanctions regarding discovery. (See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37.) The claims are an awful lot like a Rule 11 motion, though. I would think they'd try to move for sanctions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b)(3) (stating that the claims have no evidentiary support). Maybe Mr. Beckerman could comment on whether he's been served under Rule 11(c)(2) prior to filing with the court?
The plus side is that Plaintiffs are moving for dismissal, but they're trying to get the court to order it, probably so that they won't have to pay attorney's fees.
I hope that the posters here, on Groklaw, and on your blog itself, are helping to shape and refine your arguments. I read all 3 as time permits.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Er... so if I don't buy your political ideology, I don't love freedom? I don't equate freedom with a rather extreme political movement, or political Libertarianism. I think your ability to express your view and do something about it is freedom, even if I don't necessarily equate your view with freedom. Personally I think the Freestate idea is LESS free, since you want to move somewhere and impress your view on others, en mass. That and I consider freedom as more than mere "freedom from government interference", which is a vital part, but only half of the story.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
The underlying problem doesn't start and end with a language. When some people say they want immigrants "to learn to speak English" they are really saying "I want immigrants to completely give up their native culture and adopt to our culture". Not true in every case, but I would bet true in a good percentage.
"But this one goes to 11!"
Holy mother of Perry Mason, how can the RIAA complain about "vexatious litigation" without every man jack of them being blasted by lightning where they stand? That's like St Nick complaining about sunburn!
The last thing Ray needs is more PAPER WORK to read. But I'm sure he could use a bit more paper to spend.
I disagree they are trying to paint IP infringement like theft.
If you shoplift a CD you often just get yelled at by security and sent home. Being fined 250grand or IP fraud is a bit worse, more like manslaughter.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
...is that the RIAA's legal tactics are a SCAM, not a SHAM.
"Klaatu, verada, necktie!" -Ash
Alt + F4
"But this one goes to 11!"
"The American government certainly doesn't value freedom, and the citizens aren't doing anything about that"
All of them aren't necessarily "doing anything about it". I live in Minneapolis and when the RNC was in town, there were plenty of people "doing something about it". I can tell you because I witnessed some of it firsthand.
"But this one goes to 11!"
If I knew what kind of cake you liked Mr. Beckerman, I would find a way to send you one. Much respect for you and good luck.
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
Is that what they're after? I'd have guessed that they were looking for a way to force you to stop commenting on their litigation campaign?
I'm not sure they can do that, but I'm sure they'd like to. I remember reading on Groklaw that attorneys can sometimes be prevented from talking about cases during litigation.
And you're clearly hurting their PR. I'm sure they hate that, because that costs them money (though probably not as much as if the labels themselves were getting the bad PR).
There's something deliciously ironic about the RIAA citing "Red Herring" magazine in an attempt to get their bogus case dismissed Mr. Beckerman sanctioned...
I mean, can you get any more obvious?
I remember Ray coming to Groklaw and asking for input for ideas and theories to question the RIAA's experts (self proclaimed ones (imho) ). Ray got on the net and ask questions, and was able to blog with real ppl that knew facts that the RIAA never thought would come to light.... So now the RIAA is acting like large corporations when they find an anti web-site naming them...use trademarks, copyrights, DMCA, lawyers and courts to silence them if possible.... And for those of you who claim this course that Ray has chosen, hurts Artists..... that would only be true if the judgments the RIAA has won, was shared with those artists.... something that most of those who complain of theft never understand, the real theft is imho, recording companies that share almost nothing on record and cd sales...forcing artists to unreal touring schedules, and merchandising to pay the bills ....the artists still haven't seen any money from the RIAA to this point afaik......so who is ripping who off? ethics is learned...not given with law degrees. And is one thing Ray has.... Thanks Ray :)
I wonder which has more resources: Scientology, or the RIAA?
Certainly, Scientology isn't going anywhere soon. I doubt the RIAA is, either.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
That's 2 buttons. Clearly you didn't read the specifications of "What button?"
Which button do i press for all of you to shut the fuck up?
For this, it is not a button you press. It is a button you do not press, grasshopper.
The folly they encumbered themselves with. I've been reading Beckerman's blog for a while and it strikes me that he's just been playing with these guys so far. I know he's been a bulldog but there was always a sense of fun and excitement with a little showmanship rolled in. Now they'll just have the snarling bastard wolf with foot-long fangs and less than 0% sense of humor that wants live brains and blood for breakfast. I can't wait to see how fast they back away from this CF.
"New York Country Lawyer" Ray Beckerman has probably done more to publicize the RIAA's thuggish, bullying tactics in clear, concise, non-legalese language than just about anybody else in the United States. And he's certainly done more than his share against them in court, if I understand correctly. It's no surprise they're targeting him.
I hope the Slashdot community is ready to help the guy out if necessary, because he's helped keep the RIAA and similar scumbags off all of our necks.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
"in my opinion" is not a magic word that lets you defame people with impunity.
Actually, that phrase provides lots of free speech protections. I can say that I think taking the oil company profits and capping the price will cause oil shipments to stop to the US just like they did in the 1970's. I can say In my opinion, I think someone is an idiot for suggesting it. This is not defamation. This is stating what someone is suggesting and my opinion of his suggestion.
Mentioning that I think there is reason to believe he is not a native born citizen and therefore ineligible to run for president is also not defamation. It is based on the lawsuit that he was born in Kenya, not Hawaii. This is not defamation. References provided.
http://bobmccarty.com/2008/08/23/lawsuit-challenges-barack-obama-citizenship/
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/gaynor/080214
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/08/barack-obama-is-citizen-of-kenya.html
If he was born here, how does he have citizenship of Kenya?
If he wasn't born on American soil, how is he qualified to run for President?
The truth shall set you free!
Freedom is our core value. The problem is that the government doesn't represent us. The American government is betraying American core values.
If New Hampshire cared about freedom, then why did they nominate McCain instead of Ron Paul? Oh yeah, because the votes were "counted" by Diebold.
Disbarred would be the correct term, but "Defenestrated" might be more useful :-)
Awesome answer.
Reading slashdot is not an obligation. :-)
Or at least a button to get y'all back on something resembling the topic...WTF do the AIG bailout and language incompatibilities have to do with either the RIAA or Ray Beckermann (or even scientology)?
Having read through the John Grisham books' stories of corporate misbehavior and unscrupulous legal predators' abuses, there is certainly a sense of deja vu' here with RIAA.
If he, or anyone else, posts here as AC but claiming to be him, RIAA probably would be able to subpoena all the web server logs to see if he was cheating. Maybe that's what they really want to do? Kind of convoluted.... Bah.
Boy, you made me laugh, there....
"What has this to with this story? Really. This is about a lawyer being harassed by other lawyers on behalf a international media cartel for daring to defend on innocent woman. What does this have to do with your own personal take on the relative merits of the arguments on piracy and copyright? Nothing is what. You are just looking to bitch about how nobody agrees with you."
Yes, my response was not really applicable to the story. However, it WAS applicable to the response I replied to.
America's founders were capable, wealthy men who took significant risks and turned down opportunities in supporting the formation of the U.S. I know you don't have to worry about having you house torched and family killed, but we know there are more profitable ways to make a living then defending people who can't pay you against very wealthy aggressive corporations. You give American Patriots a good name. Thanks for all you do.
"The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool" - Jane Wagner -
why is this story, about a totally ridiculous and doomed motion, getting so much attention, when the story I submitted about the landmark Atlantic v. Brennan case languishing in the Firehose? Mr. Brennan doesn't even have a lawyer to defend him.
Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful
Comment removed based on user account deletion
It can only be slander if it is untrue. And they just took a huge step in proving it true by suing him for a BLOG POST, for cryin'-out-loud.
I know. It's a catch-22. But hey, you have to admit it's ironic.
I'd suggest that the powers-that-be at Slashdot confer with others at Digg, Fark, Reddit, etc. and convince them to post this story up as a front-page thing. The more attention it gets, the more pressure the RIAA is under, especially should such an outcry manage to start something as large-scale as Anon getting Palin's personal emails.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
This guy is so used to translate RIAA gibberish into the cleartext nonsense it is that I personally think they have made their biggest mistake since starting their campaign.
Ray, thanks for showing that the legal profession DOES have people with old fashioned ethics.
I can't speak for others, but I am certainly 100% behind you. Thanks for your work.
Insert
... RIAA was not providing accessible morgages for people without regular earnings?
If he was born here, how does he have citizenship of Kenya?
If he wasn't born on American soil, how is he qualified to run for President?
I don't know about the first one, but the second has no real bearing on anything. McCain, for instance, was not born on American soil, but rather to two American parents who were in another country at the time of his birth. As such he is an American citizen and qualified to run for president. Similarly Obama, about whom there is absolutely no evidence that he was born anywhere but the US- repeated made up assertions about his birth certificate notwithstanding.
I, for one, am offending by your disparaging remarks about hyenas. The are far more respectable company than the RIAA and its litigators.
Good luck, NYCL...
turk as in real turk. though the turk there has humor connection to turkish.
Read radical news here
I don't think you can force small-government on anyone, as all you're doing is refusing to have large-government forced upon you. They are still free to rehire those politicians and give them power over themselves. A rule saying otherwise would be contradictory.
There are statements that fall clearly into opinion, and statements that fall clearly into fact. For example, "the sky is blue" or "the grass is green" is a fact, and to add "in my opinion" to that wouldn't make sense, nor would it be made non-factual.
However, there are also statements that fall into the gray area between fact and opinion. That's where "in my opinion" works to qualify that the statement is an opinion and not a statement of fact. And so long as opinions can be substantiated in some way shape or form, I'm certain they cannot be suppressed.
I don't know about the first one, but the second has no real bearing on anything. McCain, for instance, was not born on American soil, but rather to two American parents who were in another country at the time of his birth. As such he is an American citizen and qualified to run for president.
Are you trying to rewrite the US constitution, or simply don't have a copy?
http://www.presidentsusa.net/qualifications.html
"No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President."
http://home.comcast.net/~sharonday7/Presidents/AP0601.htm
2. What does it mean in the Constitution when it says "natural born Citizen?"
From Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition: "Natural born citizen. Persons who are born within the jurisdiction of a national government, i.e. in its territorial limits, or those born of citizens temporarily residing abroad."
So the question is still here, where was he born. Was his parents US citizens at the time and if so, were they temporarily residing abroad?
When did his parents become US citizens? There are lots of unanswered questions. It is OK to ask questions even if the answers are not your liking.
The truth shall set you free!
Stock prices may recover if the company survives the crisis, and the investors get to keep their share of the company. And if I understand the news about AIG correctly, the stock is only taken temporarily as a security. So if AIG recovers and can pay back the money, these investors get off way too lightly as well.
A better example of letting the investors pay for their mistakes was the emergency sale of Bear Stearns, as that stock has been actually sold for a small fraction of its former price. For those shareholders the losses are definitely real.
Besides, if Sallie, Fannie and AIG are "too big to fail", maybe they are also too big for the US taxpayer to afford the rescue? The USA had a big budget deficit before, with the recent bailout expenses it will be worse.
C - the footgun of programming languages
Nice running gag on Slashdot, but in Ray's case it would be IAAL. Spoils the pun ;-)
C - the footgun of programming languages
And if I understand the news about AIG correctly, the stock is only taken temporarily as a security. So if AIG recovers and can pay back the money, these investors get off way too lightly as well.
The feds took stock warrants totaling nearly 80% of the company as collateral. The warrants are basically options, at anytime they can be turned into stock that the feds will permanently own. There is good reason not to make it 100%, no one wants the fed to actually have to own or oversee the dissolution of this company. It would be far better if they paid back the loan and went on to be a successfully company.
So if AIG recovers and can pay back the money, these investors get off way too lightly as well.
I don't agree with this. This is not entirely AIGs fault. AIG insured a lot of bad debt its true, however their current liquidity problems are also the product of fear (due to LEH, BS) driven increases to what amounts to interest rates on loans that they (like all banks/insurers) need. When these rates went up then AIG's costs shot up causing the recent problem. Nothing changed at AIG, its just that because of LEH/BS/etc the market fearfully drove AIG's debt costs up, prior to that they were fine.
Also keep in mind that the the Feds didn't write AIG a check for $85billion, they gave them a line of credit. The presence of this line of credit could make AIGs debt costs go down (remember they are artificially high due to fear) without ever actually using it fully.
Anyway I think seeing one's investment go from $70/share to $2 is probably PLENTY of punishment.
What about Morgan Stanley? The exact same thing could happen to them and they are currently turning a profit! Right now the market is so fearful that profit/loss doesn't matter. Should investors loose all of their money because a panic induced mob crashed prices? I certainly don't want to see profitable companies like Morgan Stanley go out of business and fire all of their workers because of a panicked crazed mob.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Don't be silly. The US government doesn't spend taxpayer money when a ridiculously overblown problem is presented, the US government spends DEBT.
Quite right (see: Iraq), but in the cases of AIG and Freddie/Fannie, the U.S. has received assets for their money. There is no reason AIG cannot be righted over the next several years and be profitable once again. When that happens, 80% of that value will accrue to the U.S. Treasury. Once the U.S. housing market turns upward again (probably in 2-3 years), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be able to turn profits once again, and those will accrue 100% to the Treasury.
People are always wishing their government would act more like prudent person and save money instead of spending it. Well in this case they ARE saving it by investing in assets that can appreciate. But people are still bitching about it.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
If my two-bit knowledge of US law is correct, the RIAA would not get far suing Ray for calling the Media Sentry investigations illegal. That is a legal opinion that may be wrong but he is entitled to present it. And there seems to be evidence that supports his claim.
If the RIAA can show him lying about the facts (perjury!), or excessive delaying tactics, the court could impose sanctions. In practice, however, US courts seem very reluctant to use those. I have followed SCO vs. IBM on Groklaw and it was amazing what SCO's lawyers could get away with.
C - the footgun of programming languages
Actually, that phrase provides lots of free speech protections. I can say that I think taking the oil company profits and capping the price will cause oil shipments to stop to the US just like they did in the 1970's.
That isn't stating a fact about a person (or group of people), that's a prediction of the future based on possible actions and past events. The statement "Media Sentry's investigations are illegal" is a bit of a gray area, though. The statement really consists of two parts, the statement about what Media Sentry is doing, and the statement that what they are doing is illegal. The statement about what they are doing would definitely be subject to libel law, since you'd be falsely claiming that they've done something. The part about their actions being illegal would be a bit trickier, since you'd have to, at the very least, show that the person making the statement knew that it was untrue. That would be quite a bit easier to show if the person making the statement is a lawyer, since they should know whether or not Media Sentry's actions are illegal, but a random poster on Slashdot could probably get away with it by claiming ignorance.
You mean they were helping reward the government for not valuing freedom?,
:D ...
(cheap, but I couldn't resist...not registered with a party btw)
Or, rather, the memo in support of the motion. I think "vexatious litigation" may be going too far, and there's certainly plenty of irony. On the other hand, the RIAA's allegations don't look, prima faci, very outrageous.
correct, it's three magic words.
-- Sex is the antonym of pringles. Once you pop it's time to stop.
Yeah, that's right. So all of you "pilgrims" climb back aboard the mayflower and bugger off.
Sincerely, the Nauset tribe
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
To haggle on this a bit... You CAN force small government on people, especially if you intentionally invade a community en masse with the implicit goal to manipulate their politics. Generally the politics of a community reflect that community, and thus when you, from the outside, choose to manipulate it, it will no long match thats communities morals and mores.
As for small government, it depends on what you mean. Lets say you go someplace with socialized medicine, and it is popularly mandated, and works for them. There exists dogmatic stances that say that this is big government at its worst, and it hurts "free markets" (as an ends to themselves). Now lets say there is an influx of small-government-freemarketers from outside who move there, becoming a unified voting block large enough to sway their votes, and thus banish their chosen "big government" for their idealistic smaller one, EVEN if this "big" government was working for them. This is a hypothetical of course, but a possibility.
I personally dislike the idea of small government for its own good(as do I big government), you could indeed force it on me. I only care for the communal (and individual) good as its own ends. If a "big government" program works for people, then let it stand. If it increases the general well being, then let it stand.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
His mother, Ann Dunham, was a white woman born in Wichita, Kansas. You only need one parent to qualify as a U.S. citizen.
My, that old Chinese saying is true: "sha ji gei hou kan" - means "kill the chicken to warn the monkeys". Or attempt to anyway.
The RIAA has plenty to fear from this guy because they've obviously gone too far with their heavy-handed approach. Goodness, They feel he's embarrassing them? Give me a break. With the way they're going, they don't need his help.
Solution is simple: stop buying music directly from any of the RIAA members.
I felt I had to respond to this. I live in Little Falls, a couple hours north of St. Paul, and I made a special trip down to see the convention. It was too big an opportunity to miss... and I got to see first hand what was missing from cable news.
Literally thousands of people permeated the streets with demonstrations and protests against war/the republican party/torture/media... codepink marched for peace (juxtaposed brilliantly next to fully armed swat agents in riot gear), demonstrations against abugraib and guantanamo... Amnesty International had a full replica of the detainees cells (taken from... oh that Australian man who was held for years and released as innocent).
The RNC was pathetic... not only was the city walled off... it was FENCED off. 3 blocks in ALL directions around the excel center were barricaded and NOBODY got through. You could see the huge Fox News tent nestled deep in the Republican Green Zone. I couldn't believe how ridiculously secluded the Republican convention was... I wanted to talk to someone who had been at the DNC to see if it was as sad.
I totally agree, the media talked about a couple people who vandalized stuff... but didn't mention the tens of thousands who marched peacefully. It was a sight to behold... one that nobody saw unless you were there. Just how MANY people and organizations came out to protest... that you never heard about.
It's called a "bridge loan", and the taxpayers are not on the hook for anything -- AIG is good for the money. It's just that they, like a lot of other institutions (and people) don't keep it in the form of cash or rapidly convertible securities. What the $85bn buys them is TIME, and they will have to slice and dice some of the most profitable divisions to raise that cash in time to retake control of the company. Oh, you didn't read the part about the Feds taking 80% control?
I don't have a problem with a short-term loan, especially when the assets are there to back it up many times over. I do have a problem with dumping money into companies that cannot and will not repay it.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Sure his blog is critical of the RIAA, but thats kinda the point, besides its not like we have to make stuff up to say about them. the RIAA really has sued dead people, children, people who don't even own computers.
They really do use unlicensed investigators, and their expert witnesses really are functionally incompetent (or lying their asses off).
Remember the perfect defence against libel is truth. Hes not making this shit up, it happened.
Further, the mans a fucking lawyer, does anybody for a second think he wasn't very carefully making sure theres was nothing on that blog hes get in shit over? Theres very little opinion there that didn't come from commenters, what little opinion came from Ray can be considered his professional opinion. Hes a legal expert running a reporting service on a legal issue. Journalism laws will shield him from anything posted on his website. First amendment laws shield him. We are all basically asking this man his opinion (read interpretation) of what the RIAA's legal motions mean.
As for his legal conduct in court, its his duty to do everything he can to defend his client. It doesn't matter what the defence is, if it has the slightest chance to work its his public duty to try it. The judge decides if its a good defence or not. But as a defence attorney he has to try everything unless his client specifically tells him not to.
If he was for the prosecution this claim would be a lot easier to stick, When your the one attacking its generally considered that you shouldn't bother unless you have good odds of winning, when your on defence however you do everything you can.
Ray should counter sue for what is clearly nothing more than harassment.
Some countries allow people who were not born in a country to become a citizen. Obama was born in Hawaii - in the US, making him a natual born US citizen. He then also became a citizen of Kenya automatically when it gained independance from the UK in 1963, due to his father being Kenyan and Obama being 2 years old.
Every person who, having been born outside Kenya. is on llth December, 1963 a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British protected person shall. if his father becomes. or would but for his death have become, a citizen of Kenya by virtue of subsection (1). become a citizen of Kenya on 12th December. 1963.
Then he lost that citizenship of Kenya when he turned 21, as being a dual-citizen, he did not renounce his US citizenship and choose to become Kenyan.
A person who, upon the attainment of the age of twenty-one years, is a citizen of Kenya and also a citizen of some country other than Kenya shall, subject to subsection (7), cease to be a citizen of Kenya upon the specified date unless he has renounced his citizenship of that other country, taken the oath of allegiance and, in the case of a person who was born outside Kenya. made and registered such declaration of his intentions concerning residence as may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.
He does not need to renounce his Kenyan citizenship as he doesn't have one. This meme is getting old and you do yourself no favours by repeating it. It's getting as bad as that horsehit about McCain not being a natual born citizen because he was born on an airbase in Panama, when the Canal Zone was a US territory at the time.
How about you guys elect someone based on his policies and whether they matter to you, rather than spreading bullshit falsehoods to try and win by dirty tricks and character assassination of the other guy? I'm looking at both sides here.
Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
I'm at work, and don't have time, but it might be worth someone harvesting + mirroring his site (it'd be a fair amount of work) should blogspot be handed a takedown notice/injunction.
If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
No it isn't, but fair comment which is honestly held opinion, is an absolute defence against libel.
I'm fairly certain that Mr Beckerman is fully aware of the boundaries here. You don't publish legal commentary without a solid grounding in media law. At least, not for long :)
Remember, kids, Ray Beckerman doesn't infringe upon others' copyrights, and neither should you.
>Reading slashdot is not an obligation. :-)
Neither is posting to it - you should take a lesson from that.
Let's hear it for the "+1 You Don't Know Murdock" option.
The RIAA is very not-alive-in-the-usual-sense.
Plus I can really picture Michael Des Barres crushing the role of RIAA chief counsel.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Literally thousands of people permeated the streets with demonstrations and protests against war/the republican party/torture/media... codepink marched for peace (juxtaposed brilliantly next to fully armed swat agents in riot gear), demonstrations against abugraib and guantanamo... Amnesty International had a full replica of the detainees cells (taken from... oh that Australian man who was held for years and released as innocent).
That's more like it :) Good to hear that some citizens still care (though I'm British, and live at the opposite end of the country from the capital)
which is totally what she said
I don't use Windows, you insensitive clod! The Alt-F4, it does NOTHING!
Reading slashdot is not an obligation.
Now you tell me.
Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful
Learn to use the shell to map commands. It isn't Windows specific if you set it up right.
"But this one goes to 11!"
"Should investors loose all of their money because a panic induced mob crashed prices?"
The stock price of a real company is the sum of its assets, and its ability to make more money. If your company's entire business plan involves risky loans, then yes, there naturally exists the possibility that those risky loans will become bad debts instead of fulfilled ones, and your company's investors will suffer.
You can get 15 minutes of fame, but you can go down in history for infamy.
By my definition of small government there wouldn't be a mechanism to force you to do anything. By shrinking the big government we're in we're both free to choose a big government (even recreating aspects of the one we had for yourself and those who choose it) or a small one, or try non-governmental solutions for the same things.
What we're doing in Iraq isn't forcing small government on them, we're forcing a government on them. I suggest removing much of the power of a government and letting the people choose. Exactly the opposite.
They've gotten to the "fight you" stage. You're winning, Ray!
licet differant, aequabitur
When money is "made" for "sale", all similarly backed money loses value. To be considered an industry, the finance "industry" must create money, thereby devaluing its own product. My aversion is to calling it an industry, when it is strictly commerce; the buying and selling of existing money.
I would suggest that the financial industry does not need to "create" money any more than the water industry has to "create" water. It is an organisation of resources that makes money available to places where it might not otherwise be as easy to get to. It bottles up the risk (which is what the financial industry really deals in) to make it easier for investors to drink, so to speak.
There shouldn't be a financial industry! Industry produces and commerce sells.
By this, do you mean it shouldn't be referred to as an industry? If so, you're losing the same war that pedantics did over "begging the question".
If, on the other hand, you mean screwing around with money shouldn't be done on such a large scale, I would disagree. As has been said countless times, debt greases the wheels of capitalism and the "financial industry" is built up around managing the risk that people won't pay you back. Having a financial industry lets us (as a whole) take on more risky endeavours than not, at lower cost.
Even The Fed, however, can not change the simple truth that printing more money devalues that same money. Its an industry that, simply by its existence, is self destructive.
The financial industry doesn't print money. It makes it more freely available. There's still the same amount of cash in the economy, but it's being used more effectively. Rich people aren't wandering the streets looking for people to lend to and entrepreneurs aren't walking around searching for someone who will lend to them. The only thing self-destructive about it is the massive ego of most investment bankers.
Financial Commerce is a much more accurate term.
Commerce usually refers to the field of activity, whilst industry tends to refer to the firms engaged in that field of activity. Of course, the debate is purely academic.
1. Get hit with a "frivolous and irresponsible" lawsuit.
2. Deliver photocopies of every motion, filed document and piece of evidence discussed on the blog as part of the discovery process. Anything that might be reasonably considered to be relevant to the case. Use the lawyers' own verbosity against them. In triplicate, just to be safe.
3. Win case. Should be easy, since it's "frivolous and irresponsible", right?
4. Profit! Gets costs on a party-party basis. In the Australian Supreme Court, you can get $1.60 by way of "costs" for each page you photocopied, as long as it was a reasonable expense (the photocopy that is, not the $1.60) to the case. For something that costs 5c, it shouldn't be hard to come out with a healthy profit.
We have the First Amendment precisely because blogs like Ray's can exist. He defends democracy against RIAA fascism, and is a true patriot. (Said without irony or sarcasm.)
A computer or IP address cannot infringe copyright. Infringement must be done by a person. RIAA should be ordered to pay fees, like the giy in this case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuymxOgMLnk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50q3-atQyJg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional-reserve_banking#Money_creation
The process of fractional-reserve banking has a cumulative effect of money creation by banks. In short, there are two types of money in a fractional-reserve banking system:
1. central bank money (physical currency such as coins and paper money)
2. commercial bank money (money created through loans) - sometimes referred to as checkbook money
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