RIAA's Attack On NewYorkCountryLawyer Fails

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."

Lesson being learned by the RIAA here:

[Enlarged to Show Tex]

It takes far more money to buy the entire judicial system than it does to buy a few hundred politicians

Re:Geez Louise,

[Jason Levine]

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.

Re:More Like NewYorkCountryChampion

[eldavojohn]

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! :-)

Re:I love NewYorkCountyLawyer

[RockedMan40]

Well - If he can deliver a good smackdown to ANY *IAA group, he can post "I am God" every day on ./ for all I care!

And If I have mod points that day, will give him an "Informative" or "Underrated" mod!

Re:NewYorkCountryLawyer

[timster]

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.

Re:RIAA = SCO?

[qortra]

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.

Re:NewYorkCountryLawyer

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

Now that the writer's strike is over, you should shop your story in Hollywood. It's part Erin Brockovich, part "Anatomy of a Murder" with a "lawyer with a heart of gold" main character. Hollywood LOVES remakes.

Let's wait until we get a happy ending to go with.

Off topic: how do we, as non-lawyer types, bring some of the lawyers working for the RIAA up to their respective Bar Association for ethical/procedural violations? I would hope that would contain the RIAA better.

I don't know. Maybe the Judges will do it for us.

Re:I love NewYorkCountyLawyer

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

You just had to add one more level by posting a comment, didn't you...

I always comment. Being a good listener isn't one of my virtues.

Re:NewYorkCountryLawyer

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember, though -- you're still a lawyer, so even if you're on our side, we all fucking hate your scaley snake-ass.

Question for NewYorkCountryLawyer

[ShinmaWa]

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.

Re:Lesson being learned by the RIAA here:

[powerlord]

The industry will undoubtedly go down kicking and screaming, but down it will go - of that there can no longer be any doubt.

I disagree. I think instead that, "The industry AS IT IS NOW will undoubtedly go down kicking and screaming, but down it will go UNLESS IT CHANGES."

Imagine if the Recording Industry decided to offer up its music at one "low price" [itunes.com], or perhaps they decided to offer non-DRMed tracks [amazon.com] (perhaps for an extra dollar [itunes.com]. Or maybe they could offer an "all you can eat" monthly subscription [rhapsody.com], or maybe a free streaming service [pandora.com].

Now imagine if all the groups doing this started signing up exclusive talent to their service, and perhaps decided to form an organization to help watch out for their interests (lobbying, etc.) .

Perhaps something like "The Online Recording Industry Association of America".

Maybe they can just shorten it to ORIAA.

All that is happening is that the current business model is failing. If the existing recording companies fail to recognize this, and prepare themselves for the paradigm shift, then they will be rendered obsolete by new companies that DO recognize the shifting ground in the marketplace.

As a consumer though, there will always be a RIAA, or its successor, the only question is whether it will view us as adversaries or consumers.

Re:RIAA = SCO?

[Anonymous Coward]

"then doomed by inciting subversion in their user base."

Your speaking as if the general consumer is a willing user of their 'services' in the first place.

I only point this out because the average person wouldn't be able to tell you what the RIAA is, and if you explained it to them, they would certainly be frustrated to find there isn't an 'opt-out' box they can check off to simply give their money directly to the bands they love and want to support in the first place.

please...please....please

[mediaempyre]

I sure wish someone would finally get out in the open how much the recording companies rip us off when we buy a cd. Look at the cost of a blank cd versus what we pay for a recorded one. Remember when cd's came out?? Last forever, and cost less than albums. How much do they actually pay the artists?? Ask anyone how much the groups started by Maurice Starr actually got paid. The BS about paying the artists is just that BS. If mom and pop actually knew how much they're paying that goes to the conglomerates.

Muchos Kudos to NYCL

[Stanislav_J]

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:NewYorkCountryLawyer

[wish bot]

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.