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RIAA's Attack On NewYorkCountryLawyer Fails

Posted by kdawson on Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:02 AM
from the first-get-the-facts-right dept.
Government The Courts News
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "p2pnet.net reports that the RIAA has egg on its face. When the Electronic Frontier Foundation requested permission to file an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Boston University students challenging the RIAA's ex parte discovery order, the RIAA lawyers attacked the blog 'Recording Industry vs. The People' for its criticism of the RIAA as seeking to 'abuse the American judicial system, distort copyright law, and frighten ordinary working people and their children' and then falsely claimed that the blog's author is an EFF attorney — this despite the fact that they know that the blog's author (known on Slashdot as NewYorkCountryLawyer) is a partner in a New York law firm and not an EFF attorney. Judge Gertner apparently wasn't impressed, and granted the EFF's motion, rejecting the RIAA's objections, since she felt amici curiae might 'shed light' on the 'copyright law' and 'computer technology' issues before her."
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Submission: RIAA's attack on NewYorkCountryLawyer fails by NewYorkCountryLawyer (912032)
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  • NewYorkCountryLawyer (Score:5, Funny)

    by Phoenix666 (184391) on Friday February 08 2008, @11:06AM (#22349436)
    I am glad that NewYorkCountryLawyer posts on Slashdot, because I always learn from his posts.

    But my pop-culture saturated brain always translates that username as, "Single Female Lawyer," and I worry about visitors from Omicron Persei 7.

    • Re:NewYorkCountryLawyer (Score:4, Funny)

      by Steeltalon (734391) on Friday February 08 2008, @11:10AM (#22349484)
      But that final episode was so great! Imagine how great NewYorkCountryLawyer could make a series finale! I like to hope that it involves Lur eating the RIAA.

      • Re:NewYorkCountryLawyer (Score:5, Funny)

        by NewYorkCountryLawyer (912032) * on Friday February 08 2008, @11:13AM (#22349550) Homepage Journal
        I'm proud to be in the vanguard of the struggle to save Earth from the clones.
        • Ray, even though I'm not an American and not directly affected by those thugs I want to thank you for your efforts. Tables seem to turn into a direction that makes them worth it.

          abuse the American judicial system, distort copyright law, and frighten ordinary working people and their children

          But please, stop abusing the American judicial system, please refrain from distorting copyright law and may I kindly mention that it's not nice to frighten ordinary people.

          Don't you think of their children?

          :)

          • Re:NewYorkCountryLawyer (Score:4, Insightful)

            by wish bot (265150) on Friday February 08 2008, @04:46PM (#22354534)
            It also shows the difference that ONE person can make. Now, I know there's more to it than that, but so many people here complain that the only way to enact change is with gobs of money. Well here is proof that dedication, perseverance, and calm rational reasoning CAN make a difference.

    • But my pop-culture saturated brain always translates that username as, "Single Female Lawyer," and I worry about visitors from Omicron Persei 7.
      The first time I read it, I actually thought it was a pun on The Hyperchicken [wikipedia.org] which would always start his sentences with "Now, your honor, I'm may be just a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid ..." from the same pop culture show you speak of.

      Luckily, once I read his posts, I was quite impressed and informed but also saddened [slashdot.org] by the way he was treated [slashdot.org] when he was first interviewed on Slashdot. But lucky for us, he keeps contributing massively and acts as a bridge between us and that strange foreign legal world where logic will get you killed.

      Furthermore, I hope I get a follow up story where NewYorkCountryLawyer gets mad and pushes back. Of all the people assaulted by the RIAA, he's the most likely to be able to comprehensively do something about that. Hats off to you, Ty & Ray!

      Just, please, NYCL, for the love of God whatever you do do not install P2P client software on your computer at this point! :-)

    • But my pop-culture saturated brain always translates that username as, "Single Female Lawyer,"
      Well thank you VERY much! Now I can never see a post or story from him without "NewYorkCountyLawyer... Havin' lots of sex..." echo through my head!

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by timster (32400)
        NERDS watch NERDY movies and TV shows! Duh! How short-sighted do you have to be to reason "I'm a nerd, and I don't watch TV, so TV can't be nerdy"?

        Seriously, make your own site, use the tagline "News for Nerds who Despise Culture", and go to town.

  • Lesson being learned by the RIAA here: (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Enlarged to Show Tex (911413) on Friday February 08 2008, @11:08AM (#22349450)
    It takes far more money to buy the entire judicial system than it does to buy a few hundred politicians

  • For the non lawyers (Score:5, Informative)

    by ZanySpyDude (1215564) on Friday February 08 2008, @11:09AM (#22349476) Homepage
    this helped me out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicus_Curiae_Brief [wikipedia.org]

  • RIAA = SCO? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by CheechBG (247105) on Friday February 08 2008, @11:12AM (#22349534) Homepage
    is it just me, or are there more and more similarities between the RIAA's public handling of these cases and the SCO ordeal? It seems like ever week or so another judge issues a smackdown to the RIAA's motions or momentum. I hope for the sake of the public that this doesn't drag on as long as the SCO trial did/is, but I can't help but draw the conclusion that the RIAA's path is ultimately doomed. If not doomed by the courts, then doomed by inciting subversion in their user base. It's just a shame that this has to affect so many more people than just SCO vs. Novell/IBM (and Linux users collectively)

    • Re:RIAA = SCO? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by qortra (591818) on Friday February 08 2008, @11:45AM (#22350036) Homepage
      If you get the majority of your news from Slashdot, I think your perception of the state of affairs would be skewed. There are several important differences between SCO and RIAA:
      • SCO was evil and stupid, whereas the RIAA is merely evil (though it has had bonehead moments)
      • SCO was only known or really recognized among people (usually IT/Software people) who were smart and knowledgeable enough to know just how terrible they were. The RIAA, on the other hand, is a nationally recognized organization, and the majority of people who know them won't have the knowledge or experience to know exactly why they suck so much.
      • The RIAA has deep pockets and [until recently] enjoyed the outright support of very large influential corporations. SCO, on the other hand, only had Microsoft which really couldn't outright support SCO (they had to support them through shady deals like buying licenses, and that only goes so far).
      • SCO was looking out for SCO. They were a greedy, selfish, stupid company that were willing to bring down the entire open source community for their own profit. The RIAA on the other hand has the interests of an entire business model in hand; they see it as their job to rescue a dying business model from death. Not only do they enjoy the support of their constituent corporations, but also sympathy and legal/lobby aid from their evil sister organizations (MPAA, BSA to name a few).
      None of this is written to claim that there isn't hope. However, this will be a much harder battle than SCO. SCO was pathetic, and the RIAA simply isn't.

  • Euphemisms (Score:5, Funny)

    by pandrijeczko (588093) on Friday February 08 2008, @11:13AM (#22349548)
    p2pnet.net reports that the RIAA has egg on its face.

    I'm not sure this is the correct euphimism to use for the RIAA in this sentence.

    Over here in Blighty, the expression "you have egg on your face" is often said to a man who had forgotten to zip up his trouser flies, possibly after visiting a urinal. That's because we British are a quiet and genteel people who consider it quite rude in polite company to shout out "OI, MATE! YOUR F***IN' FLIES ARE OPEN!" and prefer to use this quaint euphemism instead. Of course, the fact that every other British person in hearing range already knows what the euphemism means and immediately starts staring at the target's gusset-region anyway, doesn't enter into it.

    However, the fact that this euphemism implies that the target is no doubt displaying a flaccid, tiny, shrivelled willy while everyone else is pointing their fingers and laughing at him can hardly be applied to the RIAA now, can it?

    Oh wait...

      • And having your fly open is rather embarrassing, especially if you're not wearing underwear.

        I think being embarrassed would much depend on the size of what is being displayed. If the target could, for example, truthfully respond with "Yes, but that pavement is really chafing the end of it", I doubt he would consider that he had too much to be embarrassed about...

  • I love NewYorkCountyLawyer (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bill, Shooter of Bul (629286) on Friday February 08 2008, @11:15AM (#22349588) Journal
    How many times on how many levels can one reference oneself. He submitted an article that was written by him about a court ruling on his work. I'm not dissing him, I'm just envious. Maybe someday, I'll figure out a way to write a fully recursive story.

    • How many times on how many levels can one reference oneself. He submitted an article that was written by him about a court ruling on his work. I'm not dissing him, I'm just envious. Maybe someday, I'll figure out a way to write a fully recursive story.
      In my defense, I wasn't planning to submit this article. A friend had the idea, and twisted my arm to do it.

      But now that I've done it, I'm glad I did, because I'm reading some of the funniest comments I've ever read, such as this one [slashdot.org], this one [slashdot.org], and this one [slashdot.org]. And the thread is only about 20 minutes old at this point, so I would say we're just getting warmed up.

      • Re:I love NewYorkCountyLawyer (Score:5, Interesting)

        by NewYorkCountryLawyer (912032) * on Friday February 08 2008, @11:33AM (#22349864) Homepage Journal

        Mr. Beckerman is writing about something that is near and dear to many slashdotters' hearts (mine included)
        You're right. The way I first heard about Slashdot was that one day I found a post on my blog about RIAA litigation getting clobbered by visitors from a place called "slashdot.org" where an amazing Talmudic debate was under way, in which various participants were citing to various segments of various litigation documents and transcripts. I said to myself

        "what the heck is this? it looks like an internet discussion board but it's obviously something much different than that? and who are these people, they seem like lawyers, who else would be interested? but they seem smarter than lawyers? just as argumentative, but more logical?"
        So I asked my youngest son, who is an astrophysicist and techie, and he set me straight. And my life hasn't been the same since.

        • So I asked my youngest son, who is an astrophysicist and techie, and he set me straight.
          He said:

          "No, dad, these people aren't like you. They have souls unlike lawyers but they lack lives.

          A lawyer will have many dates while a geek or nerd will have none. You might wow a girl by bringing her home to your mansion and serving her fine wine & caviar, a Slashdotter will call upstairs to his mother for more rice krispy treats and kool aid.

          You know your bounds on expertise and the law is your opinion. The Slashdotter knows no bounds on his expertise and his opinion is the law.

          So you see, dad, if you try and communicate with these beings, you best not make a mistake or confuse Shatner with Nimoy or you'll face the most demeaning comments the internet has ever seen.

  • Only a judge of good character (Score:5, Funny)

    by zappepcs (820751) on Friday February 08 2008, @11:26AM (#22349746) Journal
    would be able to do this without laughing loudly and falling off their chair... emphasis is mine

    the RIAA lawyers attacked the blog 'Recording Industry vs. The People' for its criticism of the RIAA as seeking to 'abuse the American judicial system, distort copyright law, and frighten ordinary working people and their children' and then falsely claimed that the blog's author is an EFF attorney -- this despite the fact that they know that the blog's author (known on Slashdot as NewYorkCountryLawyer) is a partner in a New York law firm and not an EFF attorney. Judge Gertner apparently wasn't impressed, and granted the EFF's motion [CC], rejecting the RIAA's objections, since she felt amici curiae might 'shed light' on the 'copyright law' and 'computer technology' issues before her."
    The RIAA accused NewYorkCountryLawyer of using *THEIR* business model against them. Surely that is illegal? right?

  • nycl: an offer (Score:5, Interesting)

    by circletimessquare (444983) <circletimessquare&gmail,com> on Friday February 08 2008, @11:37AM (#22349920) Homepage
    i live and work in midtown, have an hd camera and an editting set up, and a burning passion in support of a common sense approach to intellectual property [kuro5hin.org]

    i am not looking for a soap box, i am offering you a soap box. if you ever had dreams of pulling a michael moore or a morgan spurlock [imdb.com] on the riaa, let's do it

    call it "taking on the riaa", or i am sure you can think of a better title. we can sample some of the more egregious bastard things these guys pull, and document, in real time, as they are taken down in case after case, digesting it into something more palatable for the mainstream public by explaining to them why it should matter (in a cinematic way, not a talky way: interview say that woman from wappingers falls who was attacked). emotionally, it would simply be little guy versus vile conglomerate. all factual, no stagey theatrics. but not boring and dry legalese. done right, it would be cinema gold

    i'm 100% serious. if you are game, i am willing to commit serious time to this. lead us on nycl. i am sure there are other slashdotters who would sign on to this too

  • Definition of Amicus Curiae (Score:5, Informative)

    by sorak (246725) on Friday February 08 2008, @11:45AM (#22350040)

    From Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]

    Amicus curiae (plural amici curiae) is a legal Latin phrase, literally translated as "friend of the court", that refers to someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information on a point of law or some other aspect of the case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it. The information may be a legal opinion in the form of a brief - testimony that has not been solicited by any of the parties - or a learned treatise on a matter that bears on the case. The decision whether to admit the information lies with the discretion of the court.

    In case anyone else was wondering what amicus curiae meant.

  • accuse Plaintiffs of acting as "a cartel of multinational corporations [that] collude to abuse our judicial system, distort copyright law, and frighten ordinary working people and their children."

    Well, RIAA lawyers, the answer is simple. Show the world you believe what you say. Sue NYCL for libel! Take on Harvard too, while you're at it. The aggrieved tone of that statement tries to make the accusation sound ridiculous. So why don't you RIAA guys put your money where your mouth is, and sue? You have full confidence you will win, don't you, because he's wrong? Or could it be he's right, and you're nothing but a bunch of sulky bullies spouting trash talk from a safe distance? Guess you haven't got guts enough to take him on, and that says it all right there. This attempt to quash a brief is the equivalent of wishing you could have someone arrested and jailed, but in absence of any reason to do so settling for walking your dog over to fertilize his yard. Weak.

  • Question for NewYorkCountryLawyer (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ShinmaWa (449201) on Friday February 08 2008, @12:34PM (#22350880)
    One thing that wasn't made clear by the articles, that I was hoping Mr. Beckerman could clear up. It appeared that the EFF was awarded their motion in spite of the RIAA's attempt to falsely associate you and your blog to them, but there's no indication, that I saw, that the court has been made aware that you and your blog are not at all associated.

    Was the false association that the RIAA made between you and the RIAA ever set straight to the court? I know that if anyone tried to falsely associate me to an organization in such a manner, even to an upstanding organization such as EFF, I would be writing all kinds of letters attempting to set the record straight.

  • Bravo! (Score:4, Informative)

    by beadfulthings (975812) on Friday February 08 2008, @01:10PM (#22351422) Journal
    New York Country Lawyer, you are an asset to Slashdot. I hope you continue to live long and prosper; you've certainly educated me, and I suspect the same is true for a lot of regular Slashdot readers.

  • Muchos Kudos to NYCL (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Stanislav_J (947290) on Friday February 08 2008, @03:21PM (#22353406)
    I have always appreciated NYCL's opinions and commentary, and it's not hard to see why the RIAA was so keen on discrediting him. After all, he is their worst nightmare: a lawyer who (a)is not on their side, (b)actually understands computer technology and software, and (c)also understands the dubious legal nature of many of the RIAA's actions. Moreover, he can explain (b) and (c) in ways that even the most clueless judge (not to mention the most non-techie /. reader, like me) can understand. He's showing that the emperor has no clothes (or, at the very least, is in a state of minimal dress) and they take umbrage at that. Keep fighting the good fight, sir -- we salute you.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Jason Levine (196982)
      If they thought they could get away with it, I'm sure they would do that. As it stands now they either: 1) have one small toe grounded in reality enough to let them know that this wouldn't be allowed, or 2) have this as a future step in their master plan.
    • On the plus side, if they decide to prosecute you for sharing a pair of ear bud headphones with your buddy, you'll only be liable for "stealing" half the song!

    • Re:Geez Louise,-HEY, IN SCOTLAND... (Score:4, Informative)

      by Nom du Keyboard (633989) on Friday February 08 2008, @12:58PM (#22351258)

      Maybe claim that if you share ear buds with your friend, that you're "stealing" the music? That you should be prosecuted for theft?

      Don't laugh. In Scotland just a few months ago, a car repair facility was fined for public performance without a license because the mechanics doing the repairs were playing their radios loud enough for customers in the waiting area to hear. Remember that radios are licensed in Britain, and that they can be really stupid at times. Especially since the customers could have listened to exactly the same station on their own radios without a problem.

    • Re:Is this really significant? (Score:5, Informative)

      by NewYorkCountryLawyer (912032) * on Friday February 08 2008, @03:58PM (#22353908) Homepage Journal

      I am avowedly disgusted by the RIAA and hate them just as much as any card-carrying slashdotter, but I have to wonder if this is really a significant defeat.
      You're absolutely right that it's not unusual for a judge to grant a motion for leave to file an amicus curiae brief.

      What is unusual -- in fact in 34 1/2 years of experience in litigation I don't think I've ever seen it happen -- is for some lawyer to be moronic enough to oppose. The RIAA lawyers are the only lawyers I have ever seen do such a thing. They've done it at least twice now, and lost both times.

      And what is also unusual is for a member of the Bar to deliberately lie to a federal judge, because the consequences which can flow from that to the lawyer's career are huge. These lawyers deliberately lied to the Judge when they represented that I am an Electronic Frontier Foundation. They also lied to the Judge when they implied that the quote they'd extracted was from February 5, 2008, when in fact it was from months earlier.

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