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NYCL Responds to RIAA Accusations
Posted by
timothy
on Sat Nov 08, 2008 04:42 PM
from the bob-dole-and-nycl-never-seen-in-same-room dept.
from the bob-dole-and-nycl-never-seen-in-same-room dept.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "You may recall that when the RIAA decided to run away with its tail between its legs in the long running Brooklyn case against a home health aide who has never used a computer, UMG v. Lindor, it decided to take some parting shots at the defendant and NewYorkCountryLawyer, asking for 'discovery sanctions,' and blaming them for its inability to prove its case. Today NYCL gave them his response, accusing the RIAA lawyers of persistent misstatements of fact (PDF) throughout their motion papers, and of flouting the rules and misstating the law (PDF). Although the RIAA's motion papers took a number of shots at NYCL's copyright law blog, 'Recording Industry vs. The People,' NYCL confined his response on that subject to a single footnote."
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NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The RIAA has requested permission to file a response to the amicus curiae brief filed by the Free Software Foundation in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Boston case against a Boston University grad student accused of having downloaded some song files when in his teens. In their proposed response, the RIAA lawyers personally attacked The Free Software Foundation, Ray Beckerman (NewYorkCountryLawyer), and NYCL's blog, 'Recording Industry vs. The People.' The 9-page response (PDF) — 4 pages longer than the document to which it was responding — termed the FSF an organization 'dedicated to eliminating restrictions on copying, redistribution, and modifying computer programs,' and accused the FSF of having an 'open and virulent bias against copyrights' and 'blatant bias' against the record companies. They called 'Recording Industry vs. The People' an 'anti-recording industry web site' and stated that NYCL 'is currently subject to a pending sanctions motion for his conduct in representing a defendant' (without disclosing that plaintiffs' lawyers were 'subject to a pending motion for Rule 11 sanctions for their conduct in representing plaintiffs' in that very case)."
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pettyness (Score:5, Funny)
This kind of behavior is the lawyer equivalent of turning the lights off while someone else is in the bathroom. They probably left the toilet seat up too. Grr. Argh... wet socks.
Re:pettyness (Score:4, Funny)
if you don't know where your junk is by now - enough to find it in the dark and wipe it, then the utes of this world are in peril.
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:pettyness (Score:5, Insightful)
if you don't know where your junk is by now....
Dude...check the username.
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Re:Fascism We Can Believe In! (Score:5, Funny)
Service guarantees citizenship. Would you like to know more?
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Re:Fascism We Can Believe In! (Score:4, Insightful)
I very much appreciate your "pipe dream" footnote.
Aside from the deterioration of the US military through reorganization whose design goals seem to focus on saving money, military service just isn't rewarding any more. Veteran's benefits have been wantonly slashed, despite the hard evidence that the WWII G.I. Bill produced a renaissance by providing a free college education to everyone who served. The pessimistic focus seems to mirror the canard of welfare cheats. I leave the irony of military recruiters targeting the poor as an exercise for the reader.
That being said, I found my own service experience useful in that it forced me to grow up and to recognize that I had been squandering my potential. If nothing else, the US military will teach you just how badly it sucks to take orders from someone less intelligent that you are. I count myself fortunate to have realized this before the age of twenty, and to have taken action by the time I reached twenty-two.
Not only did I get a college education on my own dime, I found that there were more than a few loopholes in the educational assistance program. I tired of fighting the bureaucracy and just did it on my own. In fairness, I did use the VA loan benefit ten years later.
I think that the problem is the mistaken belief that the common work-avoidance mentality of service{men,women} persists into the post-service, civilian experience. Some minority will game every system. That doesn't make it wise to turn it off.
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Re:Fascism We Can Believe In! (Score:4, Funny)
Hey,
Don't dump your Americans on us...
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Way to go! (Score:5, Interesting)
It's nice to see someone like NYCL take such an in-your-face position against the RIAA's actions and come out on top.
Re:Way to go! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Way to go! (Score:5, Funny)
Besides, if firefighters fight fires, and crime fighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight?
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Re:Way to go! (Score:4, Funny)
I'd say more than that, NYCL is a bona-fide Freedom Fighter.
One man's Freedom Fighter is another man's Terrorist.
Nice quip, but ... how many people here are feeling terrified of Mr. Beckerman? Show of hands, please. What? Nobody? No, Mr. Bainwol, you don't get a vote.
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Re:Way to go! (Score:5, Informative)
I'm just glad to see that the RIAA has a terrorist enemy...
It is they who are the terrorists. I'm just an ordinary lawyer trying to help protect the rights of innocent people from a pack of extortionist bullies who don't care about what is legal or what is right.
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Re:Way to go! (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, personally I hope you are successful enough that the word "Beckerman" strikes terror in the hearts of all RIAA members and their lawyers.
Well I think they already don't like me much. As evidenced by them putting their own careers on the line by reaching out to lie about me as they did, in a futile attempt to besmirch my reputation.
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Re:Way to go! (Score:4, Funny)
i'll bet they removed you from their Christmas card list too, eh
I don't think these guys have a Christmas list. I think they have a Halloween list.
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Third Person (Score:5, Funny)
NYCL writes in third person? Anonymous coward approves.
Re:Third Person (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Third Person (Score:4, Funny)
By day, he's mild mannered lawyer Ray Beckerman, but by night he becomes.... THE UNDERSIGNED!
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Tried to resist but couldn't ... (Score:4, Funny)
By day, he's mild mannered lawyer Ray Beckerman, but by night he becomes.... THE UNDERSIGNED!
There's no need to fear, Undersigned is here!
When criminals in this world appear,
And break the laws that they should fear,
And frighten all who see or hear,
The cry goes up both far and near for
Undersigned, Undersigned,
Undersigned, Undersigned.
Speed of lightning, roar of thunder,
Fighting all who rob or plunder
Undersigned, Undersigned.
When in this world the headlines read
Of those who's hearts are filled with greed
And rob and steal from those in need.
To right this wrong with blinding speed goes
Undersigned, Undersigned,
Undersigned, Undersigned.
Speed of lightning, roar of thunder,
Fighting all who rob or plunder
Undersigned, Undersigned.
Parent
Re:Third Person (Score:5, Informative)
Why haven't we seen NYCL here for a while? Court gag order or something?
I submitted 2 stories on October 28th, one of which got accepted, one of which got rejected. Since then there just hasn't been any Slashdot-worthy RIAA litigation news.
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Re:Third Person (Score:5, Informative)
moderation in your submittals is what makes me read every one you post
Thank you. I appreciate that.
I try to keep in mind the distinction between my blog and my Slashdot submissions.
In my blog, I just try to give complete information, so that lawyers representing defendants won't get caught off guard by anything that happens and will have a full set of legal resources to use in preparing their own arguments and legal documents. I.e. I post things that aren't really surprising or newsworthy, but they're just useful information to have in one place.
My Slashdot submissions are confined to things that I think the world should know about. However, Slashdot's editors don't always agree with my assessment and more of my submissions are rejected than submitted.
One thing I try to do, which I see in Groklaw, but nowhere else in the news world, is to give people access to the actual legal documents, so they can make up their minds for themselves. I hate reading news articles about legal events where the articles do not share with the reader copies of any of the underlying documents. In this day and age, where almost all federal litigation is electronic and there are *pdf files of every document, I feel there is no excuse for holding back on that.
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Re:Third Person (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, he's a lawyer, not a mathematician, dammit!
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Footnote (Score:5, Insightful)
I decline to enter into a point-by-point rejoinder in defense of my modest foray into "blogging". Suffice it to say that (a) my law blog is irrelevant to the motion, (b) plaintiffs' counsel themselves rely upon the blog in the course of their legal work....(c) many in-house university counsels and student legal services offices refer their students to it ....... (d) many law schools and colleges use it in their curricula ..... (e) many
reputable organizations have found the views expressed in it to be worthy of further in-depth
consideration...... (f) it has been cited in law review articles.....(g) plaintiffs' counsel are not candid
about their real problem with the blog, which is that its existence interferes with their tactic of
attempting to conceal the litigation events and prior inconsistent statements they don't want
others to know about, from judges, litigants, and law enforcement authorities
Emphasis mine. He then goes on to give a specific example of why the RIAA hates his blog, basically because it exposes the stupid things they do to the world.
Must be a fun job to use the law to destroy evil. Kind of like that old movie The Rainmaker. If I were Ray Beckerman, I would feel like I were in a movie.
Re:Footnote (Score:5, Insightful)
I disagree that the cases are "funny". The recklessness expressed by the RIAA lawyers and the utter lack of common sense and decency in both professional and private conduct are disturbing. Please remember that the "accused" are scarred for life. Even if all wrongfully sued people get fully compensated, they still lose out because they have been stressed, bashed and abused.
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Re:Footnote (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:Footnote (Score:5, Informative)
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due vs. undue stress (Score:5, Insightful)
Being stressed, bashed, scarred, and abused is part of life.
True, and people should have some amount of thick skin. But...
When people stress others without caring for their well-being and (more importantly) without a valid reason and do so repeatedly, that's where it becomes chicanery and where I think it's reasonable to step in.
Whether we're talking about schoolyard bullies or corporate dragnet litigation, there should be some way of stopping chicanery. Lawsuits are not like an abusive spouse: you can't just divorce it.
Looked at the Skinnerian way, when people harass you, we need you to have some way of punishing them. Otherwise, as symes said (http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1022819&cid=25690283), you become stressed out with bad effects to your health.
Shame me for using anecdotal evidence all you want; I know what ten years of near-constant bullying can do to you. When you feel universally hated and persecuted, you don't have the most fertile ground for developing social skills; what you do have is fertile grounds for developing social anxiety.
When on top of the endless bullying your cries for help go unanswered, you learn that you can't rely on anyone when you're in need, that no one cares about your well-being, and that people in practice have the right to mistreat you however they want.
I do not want to be expected to tell my children that "this is a part of life".
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Re:Footnote (Score:5, Insightful)
Being stressed, bashed, scarred, and abused is part of life.
Death is also a part of life. Yet we try to avoid it when possible and take a dim view on anyone forcing it on to others.
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Re:Footnote (Score:5, Insightful)
Their policy is not to 'make sense'. Their policy is to frighten people. An insane attack dog is more frightening, and in a number of more ways more effective, than a well-trained guard dog to keep people off the territory where you let the dog loose, even if you do not in fact own that territory and have no legal cause to let that dog hurt anyone.
Plenty of people in the music industry, especially in production and distribution, have mastered this art for many years, against agents, performers, and normal purchasers. This is just another form of the 'trial by champions' or effectively 'trial by mercenaries in suits' that legal systems have provided since the time of the crucifixion of Jesus and Pontius Pilate washing his hands of the mess.
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Re:Footnote (Score:5, Interesting)
I disagree that the cases are "funny". The recklessness expressed by the RIAA lawyers and the utter lack of common sense and decency in both professional and private conduct are disturbing. Please remember that the "accused" are scarred for life. Even if all wrongfully sued people get fully compensated, they still lose out because they have been stressed, bashed and abused.
Very, very true. You were deservably modded to +5.
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Re:Footnote (Score:5, Informative)
Maybe he needs a donation page?
Well this [blogspot.com] would be even better.
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'With Prejudice' (Score:3, Interesting)
We here at Slashdot hope you get the RIAA to cover the bill for your hard work!
If not, just post a few more stories here and the ad revenue should cover it.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
More than that, I hope someone will make a movie about this. I gather that Marie Lindor doesn't look a lot like Julia Roberts, but I'm sure the movie people can figure out the casting.
Re:'With Prejudice' (Score:5, Insightful)
How would NYCL react to his being cast as Jack Nicholson?
I don't really care who they cast as me, as long as they give me a nice fee -- like maybe 5% of what Jack Nicholson gets for a movie.
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One man army? (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's a guy who has single handedly changed my opinion of lawyers. Certianly he has friends here, I'd give him a dollar. But at the same time his existence speaks badly of other lawyers. The question is: Why are there not more like him? We all recognise the RIAA are effectively an extorion racket. Why do more not speak up and take on these criminals? Leading by example may not be enough. If I were NYCL my focus would be converting more of my peers, raising an army against the RIAA. A one man battle is heroic and all, but sooner or later we all need help. It's time other lawyers saw which way the wind is blowing and get behind this leader.
Re:One man army? (Score:4, Insightful)
There are many, many others like him. The difference is they aren't on Slashdot and they don't make the paper.
It's also a pick your fights type of thing. Not every good lawyer is going to be fighting the RIAA. It's where their interest and abilities lie.
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Re:One man army? (Score:4, Insightful)
There are lawyers taking on the entire military tribunal process down there in Gitmo. Oh, and these guys are defending people who probably killed American soldiers. Oh, and they're career military officers who probably flushed his career down the tubes to make an unpopular stand.
There are good guys everywhere if you only wanted to look.
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Re:One man army? (Score:5, Insightful)
As much as I respect NYCL, the reason you don't see more like him is that it doesn't pay. Being noble is difficult when it effects your ability to feed your kids.
I laud his efforts, but he is a jewel in the rough.
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Re:One man army? (Score:5, Insightful)
If I were NYCL my focus would be converting more of my peers, raising an army against the RIAA.
That really has been my focus. The purpose of the blog was to empower other lawyers. Since I started it, more and more lawyers have come into the fold. I give them free listings in my "Directory of Defense Lawyers" and we try to help each other whenever we can. Are there enough lawyers doing it? No. But more and more are coming into the fight.
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Re:One man army? (Score:5, Insightful)
May you succeed in this seemingly Quixotic quest.
I don't know if it's so Quixotic. After all, it's a legal battle in a court of law. And I have the law on my side. Doesn't that give me the advantage, ultimately?
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Re:One man army? (Score:4, Insightful)
[...] I have the law on my side. Doesn't that give me the advantage, ultimately?
You're new to this law-thing, right?
Yeah. I've only been doing it 34 years.
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Give 'em Hell, NYCL!! (Score:4, Funny)
To New York County Lawyer (Score:5, Insightful)
We salute you, sir.
Didn't Lindor settle? (Score:4, Insightful)
"You may recall that when the RIAA decided to run away with its tail between its legs in the long running Brooklyn case against a home health aide who has never used a computer"
Maybe I'm thinking of a different case, but I thought Lindor decided to settle?
Re:Didn't Lindor settle? (Score:4, Informative)
The RIAA voluntarily dismissed this case, and it's in that motion that they are seeking to impose "discovery sanctions" on Mr. Beckerman and Ms. Lindor.
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Re:Didn't Lindor settle? (Score:5, Informative)
The RIAA voluntarily dismissed this case
Well they don't have the power to dismiss it at this stage, only the Court does. They've made a motion asking for the case to be dismissed.
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Can't Say This on Ray's Blog (Score:4, Interesting)
It is more than well known that the RIAA method is highly flawed and they have often demanded subscriber information for IP addresses that never existed in the ISP's log. Those are easy to filter out. The real damage comes when the IP address supplied is wrong, but valid to another user. The RIAA admits no error in their procedures and pursues many innocent people.
But the real blame is the idiot judges who seem incapable of understanding that the RIAA is using the court system in ways it was never intended to be used. It's the very same thing that Direct TV (may they rot in Hell) did only a few years earlier. These judges are apparently seduced that the RIAA members are losing billions of never proven dollars to filesharing and that somehow this must be redressed in trials that never seem to happen. I couldn't think less of the judges in too many of these cases, and am not alone in this regard.
There, that felt great!
No FRCP 11(c)(2) motion? (Score:4, Interesting)
NYCL, I'm surprised. With all of the egregious conduct you're documented, I'm surprised you're just making a declaration in opposition rather than a motion of your own for sanctions under FRCP 11(c)(2). Is your reasoning something you can share with us, or shall we just watch the master in action? ;-)
Re:No FRCP 11(c)(2) motion? (Score:5, Informative)
NYCL, I'm surprised. With all of the egregious conduct you're documented, I'm surprised you're just making a declaration in opposition rather than a motion of your own for sanctions under FRCP 11(c)(2). Is your reasoning something you can share with us, or shall we just watch the master in action? ;-)
Can't comment on that.
Here's [cornell.edu] a link to Rule 11.
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Re:But the real question is (Score:5, Informative)
Ray, When are you going to get an Amazon wishlist and cash in on all this slashlove you're getting?
All I want is for people to buy stuff for themselves, but buy it through my Ad Links [blogspot.com], so I can get a commission [blogspot.com]. That will help to finance the work I'm doing. A good place to start would be with buying some of the nice, independent, non-RIAA, music [blogspot.com] I have listed.
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Re:Uh huh. (Score:5, Informative)
Writing a story about yourself in the third person? Crowing about how muted and controlled your footnote response was? Brag much? I miss the somewhat more.. objective and clean Groklaw postings. Oh well.
If your point is that PJ is a better journalist than I am.... I wholeheartedly agree with you.
What I'm doing -- cataloguing, documenting, and sometimes publicizing -- the details of the RIAA litigation campaign, is a job I wish I didn't have. I do it because no one else is doing it, and it has be done if we are to counter the RIAA's information monopoly.
If PJ wants to take it over, I would be delighted!
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