seanbeeson - Slashdot User

In Round 2, Jammie Thomas Jury Awards RIAA $1,920,000 793

Posted by timothy on Thursday June 18, 2009 @06:35PM from the there-go-some-hearts-and-minds dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Well the price went up from $9250 per song file to $80,000 per song file, as the jury awarded the RIAA statutory damages of $1,920,000.00 for infringement of 24 MP3s, in Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset. In this trial, although the defendant had an expert witness of her own, she never called him to testify, and her attorneys never challenged the technical evidence offered by the RIAA's MediaSentry and Doug Jacobson. Also, neither the special verdict form nor the jury instructions spelled out what the elements of a 'distribution' are, or what needed to be established by the plaintiffs in order to recover statutory — as opposed to actual — damages. No doubt there will now have to be a third trial, and no doubt the unreasonableness of the verdict will lend support to those arguing that the RIAA's statutory damages theory is unconstitutional." Update: 06/19 01:39 GMT by T : Lots more detail at Ars Technica, too.

Comment Re:what a troll (Score 1) 503

by seanbeeson on Monday June 15, 2009 @10:41AM (#28335107) Attached to: Mono Squeezed Into Debian Default Installation

I have to totally agree with you that this debate has been gone over so many times that it is a troll posting. Please read the following.... Started by another troll on the mono list anonymously under the name 666lawyer: http://lists.ximian.com/pipermail/mono-list/2009-June/042680.html From some time ago... http://www.jprl.com/Blog/archive/development/mono/2009/Jan-19.html Here we go again...Why Mono doesn't Suck... http://www2.apebox.org/wordpress/rants/124/

Submission + - Does Microsoft's Bing have Google running scared? (cnet.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun on Sunday June 14, 2009 @03:42PM

suraj.sun writes: Microsoft may have developed a contender that threatens Google's Web search dominance.

In a story headlined "Fear grips Google," the New York Post reports ( http://www.nypost.com/seven/06142009/business/fear_grips_google_174235.htm ) that the launch of Microsoft's Bing search engine has so upset Google co-founder Sergey Brin that he has top engineers working on "urgent upgrades" to Google's service. Brin is said to be leading a team to determine how Microsoft's search algorithm differs from the closely guarded one Google employs. The tabloid also notes that it's rare for Google's co-founders to have such a hands-on involvement in the company's daily operations.

"New search engines have come and gone in the past 10 years, but Bing seems to be of particular interest to Sergey," an anonymous source described as an "insider" to the newspaper.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the level of Brin's involvement but did tell the newspaper that the company always has a team working on improving search.

While Microsoft has a long way to go before it makes a dent in Google's business, Bing may end up being the only true alternative to Google if Yahoo decides not to compete in the search market ( http://searchengineland.com/bartz-continues-torpedoing-yahoo-search-20705 ) over the next few years.

NYPost : http://www.nypost.com/seven/06142009/business/fear_grips_google_174235.htm

CNET News : http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10264417-75.html

RIAA Case, Capitol vs. Thomas #2, Starts Monday 166

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday June 14, 2009 @11:53AM from the don't-call-it-a-comeback dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The RIAA's first trial verdict having been tossed out last year, the RIAA is coming back for a second round starting Monday. This time the trial will be in Minneapolis, rather than Duluth, and the defendant will have a team of pro bono lawyers on her side. But perhaps the most important new development is that this time, the 'technical' evidence garnered by MediaSentry and 'explained' by the RIAA's expert witness Doug Jacobson, will not get the free pass it got the first time around. In the 2007 trial in Capitol Records v. Thomas, no objection was made by defendant's lawyer to the MediaSentry/Doug Jacobson 'evidence' upon which the RIAA relied, and the evidence was admitted without objection. This time there will be no free ride, as defendant's tech-savvy lawyers have already filed a list of objections to the RIAA's proposed exhibits. Most notably, they attack the 'technical' materials submitted by MediaSentry and Dr. Doug Jacobson under Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which requires evidence based on 'scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge' to be based on sufficient facts or data, to be the product of reliable principles and methods, and to be the result of those principles and methods having been applied reliably to the facts of the case. If the evidence fails to meet those standards, it is inadmissible. This judge has already shown acute awareness of these principles in deciding which subjects the defendant's expert could and could not address. This should be interesting."

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