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Obama DoJ Goes Against Film Companies
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "If one attempted to distill a single prevailing emotion or attitude about government on Slashdot, I think it is fairly arguable that the winner would be cynicism or skepticism. Well here's a story that could make us skeptical and/or cynical about our skepticism and/or cynicism. Chalk one up for those who like to point out that, occasionally, the system does work. You may recall that the US Supreme Court has been mulling over whether to grant the film industry's petition for certiorari seeking to overturn the important Cartoon Networks v. CSC Holdings decision from the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. This was the case which held that Cablevision's allowing its customers to make copies of shows and store them on Cablevision's servers for later viewing did not constitute a direct copyright infringement by Cablevision, there being no 'copy' made since the files were in RAM and buffered for only a 'transitory' duration. The Supreme Court asked the Obama DoJ to submit an amicus curiae brief, giving its opinion on whether or not the film companies' petition for review should be granted. The government did indeed file such a brief, but the content of the brief (PDF) is probably not what the film companies were expecting. They probably thought they had this one in the bag, since some of the very lawyers who have been representing them have been appointed to the highest echelons of the Obama DoJ. Instead, however, the brief eloquently argued against the film companies' position, dismembering with surgical accuracy each and every argument the film companies had advanced."
I know it isn't likely, but I would love to see this evolve into a situation where I could time shift my MythTV recordings with other users over BitTorrent.
coffee | nose > keyboard
Sounds like non intervention is good policy.
See what it did to the banking system and global economy?
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
They probably thought they had this one in the bag, since some of the very lawyers who have been representing them have been appointed to the highest echelons of the Obama DoJ. Instead, however, the brief eloquently argued against the film companies' position, dismembering with surgical accuracy each and every argument the film companies had advanced."
Thus demonstrating again why you should never trust a lawyer. Unless you are still paying him, of course. (sorry nycLawyer)
Qxe4
NewYorkCountryLawyer said:
Well here's a story that could make us skeptical and/or cynical about our skepticism and/or cynicism.
It's way too early on a Sunday morning and/or afternoon for me to ponder and/or grok the in and/or out of the and/or in that sentence.
Just add {In Space!} to anything.
"Can someone mod those lawyers up?"
Something I would never expect to see here on /.
Furthermore, it's modded 4 Insightful.
I'm staring at my window now, waiting for a pig fly-by.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
waiting for a pig fly-by..
Sorry. That was last month
Todos mis movimientos están friamente calculados
Sorry, that doesn't actually work outside of Slashdot.
What if the RIAA lawyers are all on our side all along, and they were filling up their positions incompetently just to prevent people who actually want to do damage from doing so?
Whose fault is that? Mod down the reality: -1 overrated.
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
Well, like I say... I'm not ready to genuflect just yet. But this brief was good news.
Where's Tom Lehrer when we need him? Two, four, six, eight...
Actually I'm beginning to think this whole copyright business was scripted by Gilbert & Sullivan. Anyone?
I'll start it.
"This is the very model of a copyright attorney brief
In amicus it challenges the findings for recording fiefs
It simply disassembles any arguments enjoining use
Of any little copies kept in RAM for momentary use!
The data kept in buffers necessarily but fleeting is
Not there for long enough to be infringing on your rights it is
It's not enough to keep petitioners to keep petitioning...
(pause)
Your language overbroad is far too scattered to define the thing!
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
A broken clock is right twice a day, a clock that spins like a fan is right much more often! Let's vote batshit crazy people into power hoping they'll do the right thing by mistake even more often!!
You just got troll'd!