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Obama DOJ Sides With RIAA
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The Obama Administration's Department of Justice, with former RIAA lawyers occupying the 2nd and 3rd highest positions in the department, has shown its colors, intervening on behalf of the RIAA in the case against a Boston University graduate student, SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, accused of file sharing when he was 17 years old. Its oversized, 39-page brief (PDF) relies upon a United States Supreme Court decision from 1919 which upheld a statutory damages award, in a case involving overpriced railway tickets, equal to 116 times the actual damages sustained, and a 2007 Circuit Court decision which held that the 1919 decision — rather than the Supreme Court's more recent decisions involving punitive damages — was applicable to an award against a Karaoke CD distributor for 44 times the actual damages. Of course none of the cited cases dealt with the ratios sought by the RIAA: 2,100 to 425,000 times the actual damages for an MP3 file. Interestingly, the Government brief asked the Judge not to rule on the issue at this time, but to wait until after a trial. Also interestingly, although the brief sought to rebut, one by one, each argument that had been made by the defendant in his brief, it totally ignored all of the authorities and arguments that had been made by the Free Software Foundation in its brief. Commentators had been fearing that the Obama/Biden administration would be tools of the RIAA; does this filing confirm those fears?"
No millions of young people are starting to get that feeling that their vote to "stick it to the man" resulted in getting stuck by the man.
In Obama America, hopes changes You!
Do you guys realise from reading the comments how Slashdot has become to libertarians as Digg is for liberals?
You just got troll'd!
I don't want to be racist or anything, but I think that he'll be America's first and last black president. Do I think that because he's black? No. I think that because I think he sucks.
This one even got modded up. Think about that. Obama's DoJ claiming that copyright statues are constitutional means no black man should ever be elected again.
The thing about libertarians is that Ron Paul sucks.
From reading Slashdot, I have deduced that Libertarians are like Republicans, only without the empathy and concern for their fellow man.
From reading Slashdot, I have deduced that Libertarians are like Republicans, only without the empathy and concern for their fellow man.
Well shoot from reading Slashdot, one could deduce that women are like cars but without mufflers.
You're thinking small. Why miniaturize the laser, when we could instead enlarge the sharks? -John Searle
People thought if they could distract him with politics he might stop acting.
Just ask yourself: "What would Jesus do?" If you're atheist then instead ask, "What would the voters think?" everytime you need to make a decision. That's how you avoid corruption as a politician or public servant.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
black, white, yellow, red, purple
I vote purple, the only color that hasn't screwed something up yet, but I'm sure our first purple president will show us that they can do it too.