Entire Transcript of RIAA's Only Trial Now Online

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The entire transcript of the RIAA's 'perfect storm,' its first and only trial, which resulted in a $222,000 verdict in a case involving 24 MP3's having a retail value of $23.76, is now available online. After over a year of trying, we have finally obtained the transcript of the Duluth, Minnesota, jury trial which took place October 2, 2007, to October 4, 2007, in Capitol Records v. Thomas. Its 643 pages represent a treasure trove for (a) lawyers representing defendants in other RIAA cases, (b) technologists anxious to see how a MediaSentry investigator and the RIAA's expert witness combined to convince the jurors that the RIAA had proved its case, and (c) anybody interested in finding out about such things as the early-morning October 4th argument in which the RIAA lawyer convinced the judge to make the mistake which forced him to eventually vacate the jury's verdict, and the testimony of SONY BMG's Jennifer Pariser in which she 'misspoke' according to the RIAA's Cary Sherman when she testified under oath that making a copy from one's CD to one's computer is 'stealing.' The transcript was a gift from the 'Joel Fights Back Against RIAA' team defending SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, in Boston, Massachusetts. I have the transcript in 3 segments: October 2nd (278 pages(PDF), October 3rd (263 pages)(PDF), and October 4th (100 pages)(PDF)."

Comments

That's really awesome

[Adult film producer]

Just think... The computer that you're using might be worth a million dollars, maybe 20 millions dollars if you download a lot of music. How does it feel to have a million dollars worth of product sitting next to you? Probably not as nice as if a solid gold bar were sitting there, but still, it's the same.. You are a millionaire. Go tell your friends that you're computer is worth 7 figures... cherish it, stroke it... oil it down and rub it for comfort.. until it glistens and shimmers like diamonds.

Re:That's really awesome

[Kandenshi]

If one assumes that all the music on my computer is stuff that the RIAA can sue over(some isn't, not sure the %), and ignores that some of the stuff that I have comes from legal purchases and my own rips(some, but not all that much to be honest), and if one uses the $9,250 per song figure from the summary:

My computer has a value of approximately $207,900,000.

For perspective, the current price of gold is $871.20 USD per troy oz. Alternatively, about $28,000 per kilogram of gold.
$207,900,000 / $28,000/kg = 7425 kg of gold
A Ford F150 truck comes in with a weight of 2,197kg.

My computer is worth almost as much as three and a half Ford F150 trucks made of solid gold

You're right Adult film producer... I feel rich, powerful! Excuse me, I'm going to go buy a bigger basement and a new family now.

Re:That's really awesome

[mrsteveman1]

If you hadn't compared that to a car of some kind, i would have been totally lost.

Re:That's really awesome

[Kjella]

Just think... The computer that you're using might be worth a million dollars, maybe 20 millions dollars if you download a lot of music.

Don't be modest, at "a lot of music" like say 1000 CDs * 15 songs and $10000/song as in this case you're ranked 178th on countries by GDP ahead of "Kiribati" and "São Tomé and Príncipe". Is it really any wonder this sort of thing threatens the world economy?

Re:That's really awesome

[koalapeck]

I would have preferred how much money it's worth in regards to Libraries of Congress but I suppose beggars can't be choosers.

Re:That's really awesome

[_Sprocket_]

I would have preferred how much money it's worth in regards to Libraries of Congress but I suppose beggars can't be choosers.

Libraries of Congress is something the Slashdot crowd is familiar with as we tend to deal with data storage. However, this measurement isn't appropriate when dealing with volumes of gold. Those who deal with financial issues on a more frequent basis know that the correct U.S. Government equivalency metric for gold is Fort Knoxes.

Anyone RTFA?

[Timesprout]

Its way too long for me. Can someone sumarize please using the medium of dance.

Re:Anyone RTFA?

[Spy der Mann]

Its way too long for me. Can someone sumarize please using the medium of dance.

Sure!

Basically, the RIAA said: You are a pirate!

Re:Cue - no, Clue...

[pha7boy]

the transcript is public domain. as such, it should be easily available from any law clerk at the courthouse unless the judge orders the court case closed. now the RIAA could file a motion to close the court proceedings - but they would have to have a decent argument as to why that is necessary.

I wonder if this came out now because the RIAA decided to stop suing individuals and work via the ISPs.

file share

[binaryseraph]

Wonder what they would have to say if I started seeding this on a bit torrent client.

This just says it all:

[Soulshift]

FTFA:

Capitol Records, Inc., a Delaware corporation; Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a Delaware general partnership; Arista Records, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company; Interscope Records, a California general partnership; Warner Bros. Records, Inc., a Delaware corporation; and UMG Recordings, Inc., a Delaware corporation,
Plaintiffs,

vs.

Jammie Thomas,
Defendant.

I rest my case.

Re:Like anybody on /.

[armanox]

Bit torrent is not an illegal application.

Re:"when she testified under oath...

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

"when she testified under oath that making a copy from one's CD to one's computer is 'stealing'."

That one baffled me. I am neither a lawyer nor an American. However, I would assume that a witness' opinion of the legality of a given action is completely irrelevant. Establishing the legality of a given action is a task for the court, not a task for the witness.

Agreed.

So why was a witness asked about the legality of copying a CD?

Beats me.

And why was she breaking her oath (as NYCL is somehow implying) when she did not know the correct answer?

She knew the correct answer. She was deliberately misstating the law in order to improperly inflame the jury against Ms. Thomas, convincing the jurors that even had Ms. Thomas done nothing but copy some CD's onto her hard drive, that in and of itself was a copyright infringement.

Re:Because they say it is.

[mcgrew]

The USian public doesn't really believe in freedom. It believes in White, Christian, Male, wealthy domination.

Racism and sexism are smokescreens for the US's blatant classism. And it's far from Christian; the national religion is the worship of money. You won't find Bibles in any public school I know of, and students have been disciplined for even talking about religion. The Constitution itself states that the government cannot institute a national religion. We were founded as a secular nation.

Our national god is the god of mammon. We worship green pieces of paper. Hell, the mammon-worshipers are so afraid of Jesus they no longer even use the word "Christmas" in advertising. "Holoday tree?" What other holiday (outside Druidism) has a tree? Do they call it a "Holiday Menorah?"

We're heading into a depression because the high priests of finance are greedy morons.

As to racism, nobody would object to Bill Cosby or Oprah Winfrey moving in next door to them. It's the crack smoking gang bangers that they don't want moving in. Their color has nothing to do with it; what it has to do with is the fact that they're poor violent thieves. Most anybody would object to blue eyed Billy Bob Meth guy just as vehemently. It isn't a matter of race, it's a matter of class.