RIAA Brief Attacks Free Software Foundation

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The RIAA has requested permission to file a response to the amicus curiae brief filed by the Free Software Foundation in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Boston case against a Boston University grad student accused of having downloaded some song files when in his teens. In their proposed response, the RIAA lawyers personally attacked The Free Software Foundation, Ray Beckerman (NewYorkCountryLawyer), and NYCL's blog, 'Recording Industry vs. The People.' The 9-page response (PDF) — 4 pages longer than the document to which it was responding — termed the FSF an organization 'dedicated to eliminating restrictions on copying, redistribution, and modifying computer programs,' and accused the FSF of having an 'open and virulent bias against copyrights' and 'blatant bias' against the record companies. They called 'Recording Industry vs. The People' an 'anti-recording industry web site' and stated that NYCL 'is currently subject to a pending sanctions motion for his conduct in representing a defendant' (without disclosing that plaintiffs' lawyers were 'subject to a pending motion for Rule 11 sanctions for their conduct in representing plaintiffs' in that very case)."

Comments

Things I found interesting

[UnknowingFool]

Because the FSF has an open and virulent bias against copyrights in general, and against the recording industry in particular, it does not--and indeed cannot--play the traditional role of amicus curiae, which is to provide a neutral source of information or legal analysis to aid the court.

I am not a lawyer but my understanding that amicus curiae briefs came from parties not directly involved with the case but are very rarely neutral. From wikipedia: "The role of an amicus is often confused with that of an intervener. . . The situation most often noted in the press is when an advocacy group files a brief in a case before an appellate court to which it is not a litigant. . . Non-profit legal advocacy organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Center for Law and Justice or NORML frequently submit such briefs to advocate for or against a particular legal change or interpretation."

Apart from the fact that the argument relies on "facts" not in the record in this case, the contention ignores the nature of Defendant's infringement.

Again from wikipedia: "Amicus curiae or amicus curiæ (plural amici curiae) is a legal Latin phrase, literally translated as "friend of the court", that refers to someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information on a point of law or some other aspect of the case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it." Offering additional information is the point of amicus curiae.

Re:Well, is he?

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

So, is Ray "subject to a pending sanctions motion", and if so, what does that mean anyway?

There is a link to the term "pending sanctions motion"; if you follow the link you can read all about it. They made a motion to withdraw their own case, and joined it with a motion for "discovery sanctions" against Mrs. Lindor and myself. The motion was based on nothing but lies. It is still pending. Our Rule 11 motion against them is strictly based on the fact that their motion for "discovery sanctions" was based on nothing but lies, so the 2 motions are closely interrelated.

Re:Well-structured ad hominem attack

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

I've noticed that people resort to ad hominem when they haven't a better argument to use. The 9-page brief looks like a very nicely structured ad hominem attack, but that's all it is.

Exactly, Nefarious. Except I would question whether it was "nicely structured". It was the work of an incompetent, untrained lawyer who has no respect for the law, and no understanding of what a lawyer is supposed to be. By filing such a brief he merely reinforced the fact that the law is against him. There is not a federal court in the land that will sustain the constitutionality, as against a due process challenge, of a statutory damages award equal to 2100 or more times the actual damages sustained.

Re:Maybe I haven't been paying attention...

[Razalhague]

That's an XKCD reference, boy. You know what we do to XKCD referencers around here?

We link to them!