Obama Taps a 5th Lawyer From the RIAA

risingfish writes "Looks like Obama did what many organizations have asked him not to do. In a disappointing move, he has tapped a fifth RIAA lawyer to a top spot in the Justice Department."

Comments

Re:Withdrawing nomination != Forced to Resign

[Enderandrew]

I'm a right-wing loon if I think criminals shouldn't hold cabinet positions? The company Hillary was running was found to have broken the law. Everyone else went to jail. A judge ordered her to turn over court documents, she refused, and everyone let the matter slip because why should she be held accountable to the law?

And Obama isn't holding people to higher standards. He has been appointing people with known corruption issues, and then in many cases standing behind them.

Obama made a campaign promise not to appoint any "Washington politicians or lobbyists" to cabinet positions. He appointed Daschle, who not only didn't pay taxes, but is a Washington lobbyist, who lied about being a Washington lobbyist. Obama said that he supported the appointment either way.

Re:Lawyers represent their clients

[Ethanol-fueled]

Since the few of you who have responded to my above post seem to lack a sense of association, let me explain why I mentioned Silverlight:

• RIAA throws a lot of money at Obama, obama installs their lawyers in DOJ
• Microsoft throws a lot of money at the Obama campaign, Obama campaign streams inaguration using Silverlight.

Of course, that's common sense. Now let's hope this example is a sign of things to come:

• Microsoft throws a lot of money at MLB, MLB uses silverlight to stream their games...only this time, it dosen't work out after they realize what a stupid move it was.

Re:Cut off the money supply

[TheQuantumShift]

Also, why not send a check directly to the artists? Include a note explaining why you've cut out the middle man, and ask why they haven't yet.

Re:Lawyers represent their clients

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

Hmm... maybe Obama is actually pro-P2P, and he's hiring all of the RIAA's lawyers away from them, so they'll fail in court?

Well they're already failing in court.

But you may have a point there. The 6 RIAA lawyers who are now in the DOJ are legally recused from working on any matters involving the RIAA, EMI, Vivendi Universal, SONY BMG, or Warner Bros Records or any of their affiliates. So by appointing them to DOJ, perhaps he's taken the DOJ -- which has recently acted like a fawning toady of the RIAA -- out of the game. The 2 briefs the Obama DOJ has filed in RIAA cases, in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum and SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Cloud read like they were drafted by the proverbial monkeys let loose in a room of typewriters. When the judges actually read the cases the briefs cited, and the authorities they deliberated failed to cite, they will be appalled that our nation's legal department could be so irresponsible.

Re:Cut off the money supply

[BoberFett]

For every band who gets "rich" due to the record labels there are dozens who are poorer than when they started with the label.

It's a cliche at this point but http://www.negativland.com/albini.html