Comment Re:Sad (Score 1) 229
I don't have the power to do that; the site was set up with Yahoo Site Solutions which is pure junk, and doesn't let you do anything.
Out of curiosity, Ray, have you ever thought of becoming a judge yourself?
I would love to be a judge, but it ain't gonna happen.
Fix the title of your article if you want any SEO at all. Right now the title is showing a path on your C drive... interesting read though.
Thanks for the advice. Wish I had a clue as to what to do about it.
I stand corrected. What are the criteria for deciding that btw?
Regrettably, they vary from judge to judge and from court to court and are not predictable, since they are "discretionary".
I can tell you that if I were deciding UMG v Veoh I would have awarded Veoh its attorneys fees.
But does it really take that much work? Why do you even need such a huge number of lawyers for what appears to be a pretty simple case?
As I said, the judiciary has a number of rules, and engages in many practices, which make the cost of lawyering more expensive than it needs to be. I could write a book on the subject.
No it doesn't need as many hours of legal work as most big firms put into a case, which is why a good small firm like mine is wildly more efficient than the big firms, and can beat much bigger firms day in and day out. But under the rules and practices in place, it's still an unnecessarily expensive undertaking to litigate.
I don't make the rules; but I have to live with them in my daily life.
I just honestly don't understand where all the money goes.
The money goes to pay lawyers. With expensive cases, these days it's usually large teams of clones run by large, usually multistate, often multinational, law firms. The judiciary has a number of rules and engage in a number of practices which are based on the assumption that the parties have endless means with which to pay lawyers, and which benefit the large law firms and the wealthier clients who can afford them. So the real fault is with the judiciary.
Woe betide the client with limited means, and woe betide the small law firms that get caught up in these affairs if their clients don't have that kind of dough. My small law firm can kick the butt of any large law firm, but only if we have a client that can afford to pay the bills.
Ideals like, it's ok to make treaties with other nations and then break them. It's ok to invade and steal someone else's land. It's ok to have colonies and empire, so long as you don't call them that. It's ok for big business to hire thugs to shoot workers who just want a fair deal. Yeah, the USA is exceptional alright.
Hey have you been reading about our actual history? Don't you know that's not permitted.
we don't have loser pays
Correction. In copyright cases, the court has discretion to award attorneys fees to the prevailing side. 17 USC 505
For justice to prevail the loser HAS to pay all court costs. Period!
You're wrong if you thing that will improve access to the courts; it would only make it worse. It would make it an even higher stakes poker game. The real things that would improve access to justice are such things as (a) making it easier rather than harder to bring class actions, (b) making it easier rather than harder for other forms of contingent cases, (c) investing money in civil legal aid, (d) developing laws to encourage prepaid legal services, and (e) the courts not bending the law -- as they sometimes do -- to accommodate large corporations abusing the judicial system (see my article on how the RIAA was given numerous unfair advantages by the courts in its war against ordinary people: "Large Recording Companies vs The Defenseless", ABA Judges Journal, Equal Access to Justice issue, 2008)
Even though Veoh is out of business the record companies lost a lot in this. Veoh may be gone but any attempt to treat someone else this way will cause severe penalties. You can run this scam once and then the courts get wise to it and punish you for trying to sue someone when it was made clear to you previously that you didn't have a case. Anyone else they sue will get attorney fees and the right to counter sue for harassment.
From your mouth to God's ears. (old Yiddish saying)
I worked for mp3.com from 1999 to them folding in 2003 from UMG's (and others) lawsuit. I worked for Veoh from 2008 to 2009 when they folded from UMG's lawsuit. I HATE UMG. Those were the most fun jobs I've ever had. The work was challenging, the environment was fun, and my co-worker were some of the smartest people I've ever met. I had the opportunity to write code that solved problems no one had every faced before. It was awesome. UMG has screwed me out of 2 very fulfilling jobs.
Yes they really do detract from the quality of life. I'm thinking those big record companies are going downhill. The sooner they go out of business the better as far as I am concerned.
And the real-world precedent of don't mess with the record companies even if you have the law on your side.
That's the message the record companies are trying to send.
It's so sad that they can sorta "win" by pushing Veoh out of business via litigation. Even though Veoh won they still lost. Sad. The judge should have awarded fees.
Agreed. What's the good of a "safe harbor" if the courts allow the record companies to bring frivolous lawsuits which cost huge dollars to defend?
Understanding is always the understanding of a smaller problem in relation to a bigger problem. -- P.D. Ouspensky
