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The Courts

ASCAP Wants To Be Paid When Your Phone Rings 461

Posted by kdawson from the don't-even-think-about-whistling-the-beatles dept.
gerddie notes a piece up on the EFF site outlining the fairly outlandish legal theories ASCAP is trying out in their court fight with AT&T. "ASCAP (the same folks who went after Girl Scouts for singing around a campfire) appears to believe that every time your musical ringtone rings in public, you're violating copyright law by 'publicly performing' it without a license. At least that's the import of a brief (PDF, 2.5 MB) it filed in ASCAP's court battle with mobile phone giant AT&T."

Comment NYCL (Score 0) 296

by arizwebfoot (#28412077) Attached to: How RIAA Case Should Have Played Out

Thanks for the post, we here at /. don't always get to see the inside workings of what should have, could have, been the logical outcome.

I'm going to get modded down for this, but I don't care the RIAA is nothing better than being served up as crow bait
The Courts

How RIAA Case Should Have Played Out 296

Posted by Soulskill from the i-hope-it-involves-clowns dept.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "If a regular 'country lawyer' like myself had taken a case like the RIAA's in Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset to court, he or she would have been laughed out of the courthouse. But when it's the RIAA suing, the plaintiffs are awarded a $1.92 million verdict for the infringement of $23.76 worth of song files. That's because RIAA litigation proceeds in a parallel universe, which on its face looks like litigation, but isn't. On my blog I fantasize as to how the trial would have ended had it taken place not in the 'parallel universe,' but in the real world of litigation. In that world, the case would have been dismissed. And if the Judge had submitted it to the jury instead of dismissing, and the jury had ruled in favor of the RIAA, the 'statutory damages' awarded would have been less than $18,000."
Patents

Obama Taps IBM Open Source Advocate For USPTO 88

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the baby-steps dept.
langelgjm writes "President Obama has announced his intent to nominate David Kappos, a VP and general counsel at IBM, to head the US Patent and Trademark Office. This move is particularly notable not only because of IBM's much friendlier attitudes towards open source compared with some of their rivals, but also because Kappos himself is open source-friendly: 'We are now the biggest supporters of the open source development project,' explains David. 'Admittedly this policy is not easily reconcilable with our traditional IP strategy, but we are convinced that it is the way to go for the future.' Not just a lawyer, Kappos earned an engineering degree before working in the legal field. Kappos has been described as 'critical of the American approach to patent policy.' Given his background, could this mean a new era for US patent policy?"

Comment Why, oh why. (Score 1, Interesting) 460

by arizwebfoot (#28392219) Attached to: ACLU Sues DHS Over Unlawful Searches and Detention

I hate the ACLU with a passion, however and as in this case, they have their uses.

It is not illegal to carry around large sums of money. Of course if you do, law enforcement will take it away saying it's drug related and you have to fight to get it back.

Finally, why didn't he just convert the cash to a money order or cashiers check?

Comment Re: Well here goes . . . (Score 2, Informative) 793

by arizwebfoot (#28382671) Attached to: In Round 2, Jammie Thomas Jury Awards RIAA $1,920,000
Good point, however even if NYCL was the worst trial lawyer, his knowledge about the RIAA, copyright, etc is amazing. Include that from all I've been able to gather, he does seem competent as a trial lawyer (few lawyers are really any good at being a trial lawyer).

Perhaps NYCL will correct me on this, I've seen great litigators who never step foot in a courtroom and would be a disaster at trial. On the other hand I've seen great trial lawyers - both criminal and civil - who don't have the finesse to be a great litigator.

Comment Well . . . (Score 5, Insightful) 793

by arizwebfoot (#28381921) Attached to: In Round 2, Jammie Thomas Jury Awards RIAA $1,920,000
Some thoughts about this award:
  • Crooked, obscene, irrational, ineffective assistance of counsel, insane, tom foolery, crooked, baseless, should have used NYCL, undeserved, excessive, way excessive, legally raped, crooked, sanctions, more sanctions, terroristic actions, bungled, inept, crooked, bad dog bad, sit in the corner, stupid, payback, legal hos, dumb award, timeout, crooked, who ya gonna call, something is rotten in Denmark, spanked, what will you do when they come for you, retrial, bought jury, bad judge, all bad, and did I mention crooked?

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