RIAA Tries To Appeal Order Allowing Internet TV Court Broadcast

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The RIAA has appealed the order entered several days ago allowing the January 22nd hearing in SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum to be streamed over internet TV. Additionally, they've made a motion for a stay. I'm just a country lawyer, but as far as I know: (a) it's not possible to appeal the order, (b) it was procedurally improper and ineffective to file a notice of appeal, and (c) it was improper to direct their motion for a stay to the District Court Judge. Well, let's hope the arguments in the First Circuit will be streamed, too. Meanwhile, one commentator wonders why the tooth and nail opposition to broadcasting, since the professed aim of the litigations was to 'educate' the public?"

Comments

to educate the public

[Eric Smith]

since the professed aim of the litigations was to 'educate' the public?"

Well, sure, but not to educate the public *too* much.

Re:to educate the public

[causality]

since the professed aim of the litigations was to 'educate' the public?"

Well, sure, but not to educate the public *too* much.

So often the message sent is, "you're educated if you agree with me." Truth does not mean very much to people like this. In fact truth, or at least the love of truth and the entire truth not for any agenda but for its own sake, was the first thing they had to sacrifice to become as sold to their own system as they are. The thing that (I believe) is often forgotten is that once people are compromised in this fashion, for any reason, they become "true believers" in whatever it was that compromised them and they give their allegiance to it. Most people are not entirely 100% themselves and are compromised in some way by ideas that did not come from a careful evaluation of available options. This is where the abuses and the underhanded maneuvers come from. That is, they come not from people who know they are doing something wrong and do not care, but from people who have an endless supply of rationalizations that they themselves believe.

Re:to educate the public

[Andy_R]

I think the original phrase may have been "teach the public a lesson"?

Re:to educate the public

[FingerSoup]

Actually, what they don't want is hundreds of lawyers on the internet picking apart their case and e-mailing their findings to Harvard.... Because, even the RIAA can't stand a chance of an entire army of lawyers working pro bono.

Re:to educate the public

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

Actually, what they don't want is hundreds of lawyers on the internet picking apart their case and e-mailing their findings to Harvard.... Because, even the RIAA can't stand a chance of an entire army of lawyers working pro bono.

Quite true. Thing is, in the entire world, the RIAA have no friends except those on their payroll. But as for enemies, well, most anyone who knows about these cases is on the side of the RIAA's victims.

Matter of definition ...

[ScrewMaster]

since the professed aim of the litigations was to 'educate' the public?

The RIAA (and the MPAA) have a stated goal of educating the public about copyright law and the evils of infringement. However, the actual goal is to "re-educate" the public, much as our totalitarian friends around the world "re-educate" those who disagree with them. In the RIAA's case, this absolutely does not include informing the public about their sleazy, if not outright criminal courtroom behavior.

Re:Matter of definition ...

[ScrewMaster]

Just ignore them and focus on the matter at hand rather than going into illogical discussions about stated reasons for actions.

I disagree. There's a substantial amount of logic and reason (not to mention pure black nasty evil) on the part of the RIAA and similar organizations. This deterrence campaign was well-planned, and implemented for a specific purpose. A purpose which, when pressed, they deny vociferously and cry "but we're only protecting the rights of the artists." That they've essentially failed in their quest to make file sharing and wide-scale copyright infringement appear too dangerous is irrelevant. They caused a lot of damage along the way, and are still. That needs to stop (or be stopped) but it will never happen as long as people accept what they're doing, or worse yet, see it as "their rights under the law."

When a group dissembles to such a degree, and with such an utter lack of concern for anyone but themselves and their corporate masters, the difference between what they say and what they do is extremely important. That's particularly true when dealing with those (i.e., the bulk of the American public) who don't follow the issues here, and would naturally be inclined to take their statements at face value. It's vitally important these bastards be shown as the crooks they really are, and if this Webcast helps to do that then it's worth it. People will be able to look at what they've been claiming they're all about, and then see what they're really about, and perhaps draw some correct conclusions.

Re:Isn't That Just How Highly Paid Lawyers Work?

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

I am by no means defending this action, but ... come on, you wouldn't do the same thing? They've been getting away with everything in private for so long, why ruin a good thing?

If you're asking me whether I'm surprised they're resisting it, no I'm not. If I did what they do for a living, I'd be ashamed too. The last thing I would want is for the world -- including my friends and relatives -- to see what I do.

But it's not really possible for me to imagine myself in their shoes, because -- having been born of a human mother -- I would never be in their shoes and -- being a lawyer and a gentleman -- would never do the things they do.

It is not that they don't want you to see it

[cortesoft]

What the RIAA is upset about is that people can download it for free. They don't want people pirating their court appearances!

Intimidation not Education

[jcwynholds]

The MPAA and RIAA have been using their legal team to "educate" the same way that loan sharks use hired thugs to "educate" people about their outstanding debts.

Both the loan sharks and the **AA want their tactics and motives hidden. The message is intimidation.

Re:Not trying to be a jerk, but...

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

I think anyone reading the post knows that those were my professional opinions. I specifically said "as far as I know". However, I think it is clear that my opinions were correct, as evidenced by the fact that they have not pursued their defective "appeal" but have instead filed a "petition for mandamus or prohibition" (they don't know enough to know whether it's 'mandamus' or 'prohibition'; in fact it's prohibition). (a) Under the Federal Rules it was not an appealable order; (b) it was procedurally improper and ineffective to file a notice of appeal, since the order was not appealable, and (c) it was improper to direct their motion for a stay to the District Court Judge, since it ought to have been directed to the appellate court, which is why the RIAA has now filed a motion for a stay in the appellate court.

I.e. even the RIAA lawyers have evidenced their awareness that all 3 statements were correct.

Re:Isn't That Just How Highly Paid Lawyers Work?

[Paradise Pete]

Plus if anything like that ever happened to me, where do you think the police would look?

Obviously they would contact the murder's ISP and submit a John Doe warrant based on the IP address. Case closed.