RIAA Threatens Harvard Law Prof With Sanctions

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Unhappy with Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson's motion to compel the deposition of the RIAA's head 'Enforcer', Matthew J. Oppenheim, in SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum, the RIAA threatened the good professor with sanctions (PDF) if he declined to withdraw his motion. Then the next day they filed papers opposing the motion, and indeed asked the Court to award monetary sanctions under Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure."

Comments

The Real Issue: Universal Access to Knowledge.

[Erris]

It's amazing how big publishers have spun this issue to something dirty involving trivial matters like pop music and movies. All the media's "Piracy" attention focuses on garbage like this, or even more deranged copy of second rate software, and misses promise of digital publishing. The Oppehnheim letter from Mr. Reynolds is more erudite but even more lost in trivial details and ends with an unintentionally LOL insult:

Defendant's repeated failure to follow basic rules of procedure is making this case far more expensive and time consuming than it should be.

Typical, and what a moron. Who else would wage a war against sharing?

At stake in this war is something we all deserve and can have with little effort - universal access to all human knowledge and entertainment. The early music sharing programs demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that simple sharing creates a library larger and more complete than previous physical media archive. The same thing can and must be allowed to happen for movies, books, journals and all other forms of knowledge and entertainment. Anyone who wants to know things should be able to find the best answers available. Anyone who's bored should be able to find amusement. Most authors want their work to be shared - that is the whole point of publishing. Sure, some commercial works will no longer be published but nothing of value will be lost. People have been singing and dancing for each other forever and soon every university and high school will be producing movies instead of plays and musicals. What's more important is that more vital technical knowledge is shared and children receive better educations. Science and industry can flourish everywhere and people prosper from not reinventing wheels all day. Schools can give interested students what they need to succeed. All we have to do is share.

See how they spin and stand on mindless details? Big publishers know that they stand firmly in the uncool and unethical side of this war. What they are doing to the public for private advantage and gratification is indeed a crime, it simply lacks a name. Dropping down to petty procedural details won't mask their shame in the long run. The sooner these idiots get out of the way, the better off we will all be.

Re:Who is this guy, & why does he not want to

[digitalunity]

You win 1000 internets.