Petteri Pyyny
29 Nov 2006 22:19
A lawyer defending Net users that have been sued by the music industry's lobby group, RIAA, claims that the evidence -- or actually the lack of it -- in one of the cases RIAA is pushing in courts, if accepted, would effectively shut down the whole Internet.
The lawyer, Ray Beckerman, tells in an interview on DefectiveByDesign about a real case, Electro vs. Barker, in which, the recording industry, in its complaint, doesn't even bother to "specify any acts or dates or times of copyright infringement as the law normally requires". As the case proceeds in the courts, RIAA has made a statement that merely making files available on the internet is in and of itself a copyright infringement. "It was a shocking argument because if it were accepted it would probably shut down the entire internet", Beckerman says.
MPAA, obviously, has put in a brief supporting the RIAA's case. More interestingly, also the U.S. Government has filed a brief supporting RIAA's side in the case.
Source: DefectiveByDesign