RIAA File Sharing Hearing to Be Broadcast

d-r0ck writes: The internet will get a chance to watch live as lawyers spar in a Recording Industry Association of America file sharing lawsuit this month, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner of Massachusetts granted over-the-internet coverage for a Jan. 22 motions hearing in the RIAA's lawsuit against Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum and others. The defendants are seeking to dismiss allegations they shared copyrighted music over peer-to-peer networks. The RIAA opposed the broadcast, requested by the defendant's attorney, Charles Nesson, a Harvard University legal scholar. On Wednesday, the judge called the RIAA's position "curious." "At previous hearings and status conferences, the Plaintiffs have represented that they initiated these lawsuits not because they believe they will identify every person illegally downloading copyrighted material. Rather, they believe that the lawsuits will deter the Defendants and the wider public from engaging in illegal file-sharing activities. Their strategy effectively relies on the publicity resulting from this litigation," she ruled. The ruling is groundbreaking. Federal trial courts rarely, if ever, permit still pictures or live feeds from their courtrooms, though appeals courts are more open. Most states allow some type of photography, and vest the decision exclusively with the judge presiding over the case. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/01/riaa-court-hear.html