RIAA Victim Jammie Thomas Gets a New Lawyer 241
newtley writes "Only days after Brian Toder, her previous legal representative, had decided discretion was the better part of valour, leaving her fend for herself against the RIAA, Jammie Thomas says another lawyer has come forward with an offer of pro bono help. He's K.A.D. Camara from Camara & Sibley in Houston, Texas, says Jammie. And, 'He's the youngest person in history to graduate from Harvard Law school with honors,' she points out. Nor will her retrial be delayed, as was expected. It'll now go forward in June 15, as slated. 'I'm so happy!' Jammie said."
Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm happy for Jammie that she got a new, free lawyer. But haven't we learned already that free isn't always a good thing?! If I was going up against the RIAA I would like someone with large amounts of experience, who knows all the tricks of the trade, and who knows how the RIAA fights.
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:1, Insightful)
Expensive doesn't equal better.
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:5, Insightful)
However, I'm worried about the lack of preparation time that the new lawyer has. He has to familiarize himself with all of the previous casework, as well as come up with a defensible position. (All in his free time too...)
I guess we'll see how it turns out pretty quickly.
That didn't take long (Score:5, Insightful)
Sounds like he has a bone to pick. This guy's smack dab in the middle of the age range most concerned about and most knowledgeable about the issues at hand. He's obviously smart. The RIAA has been flailing left and right, so there's even hope.
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:3, Insightful)
Bias... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:5, Insightful)
This just snells like he is trying to take advantage of the situation to get some free exposure (In my opinion of course). That is not always in the best interest of the accused.
He is taking the side opposite of corporate fatcats, people who could potentially employ him for large sums of money. If he's doing this for the dough, he's not very smart.
Non-PC shorthand (Score:5, Insightful)
Many blacks refer to each other and themselves as niggers.
Non-whites can actually (usually) get away with using the term. Whites can't, but that's because whites are, by definition, racist.
Not all black people think this way, but the word nigger is not necessarily racist. At least this guy is willing to post his raw brain dumps with a warning instead of a whitewash. Maybe he has prejudices, maybe he was just writing as fast as he could during the lecture.
FWIW, I've found that people who recognize their own prejudices generally are less prejudiced in their behavior than people who don't.
Pro bono doesn't mean out of charity (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:2, Insightful)
One of the more famous similarly fought cases was two individuals against the might of McDonald's (http://www.mcspotlight.org/case/) - this makes informative reading.
Not US law, I know, but 'the tricks of the trade' aren't that different from 'cunning' and some people have an abundance from the start.
Experience isn't always used (no end of people cannot gain one whit from even their own - let alone other peoples'), I reckon that wisdom is experience multiplied by intellect - if you haven't got the intellect, then no amount of experience will do you any good.
Good luck to them both.
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:5, Insightful)
"Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill"
-- Attributed to John Barrymore
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:5, Insightful)
I speculate that he already has a plan, and is familiar with the case. If you're paying attention to sci-tech or legal news you can't miss extensive, continuing coverage of the RIAA farce.
When an industry has to stoop to suing its customers, you know it's on the way out.
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:3, Insightful)
Any lawyer that passes the bar can start their own small firm and be a senior partner init. That doesn't mean that they have lots of money, or even lots of clients.
Re:How about NOT stealing your music? (Score:2, Insightful)
Nope. They were quite clear that she was making them available. Whether she downloaded them or ripped them from her own CDs didn't factor into their considerations.
Re:Non-PC shorthand (Score:1, Insightful)
Fucking idiot. Of course whites have a stake in what to call those who aren't of pure Caucasian decent. How do I describe the guy in the office next to mine who happens to be of African decent? Is he black? Some people get offended. Is he African American? Others get offended. At least with some terms I know I'm going to offend everyone. Please, just give me a simple easy term to describe people who aren't as white as the driven snow if I'm unsure of where they are from. I don't care how that term is created just created the bloody term.
Plus with the rise of stupid terms such as 'reverse' racism it really does give credence that if you are white you can't be discriminated against. If an inferior non-white job applicant gets hired over a white applicant, that is affirmative action. If an inferior white job applicant gets hired over a non-white applicant, that is racism. I've seen it cut both ways and it is still disgusting no mater the color being discriminated against.
Re:Non-PC shorthand (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:5, Insightful)
In his first year at Harvard, Camara was involved a racial controversy that would gain attention from the national media. Like many students, Camara posted his course outlines to a popular student-run website. Camara's, however, referred to blacks as nigs. For example, to summarize Shelley v. Kraemer, he wrote "Nigs buy land with no nig covenant; Q: Enforceable?"[7] The notes were prefaced with a disclaimer that they may contain racially offensive shorthand.[7]
The case was about a line in the covenant on the piece of property a black man purchased. In it, it said that "people of the Negro or Mongolian Race" could not own the property. Camara was very aware of his wording in his notes, and used "nigs" as shorthand.
The word obviously carries the same impact as the law's phraseology, is quick to write down, and functions as a memory-jogger for the full, real quote. His notes were no more offensive than the actual law--they were just not politically correct.
Liberté,égalité (Score:3, Insightful)
Here in the UK the majority suddenly seem to have woken up to what their "elected representatives" have done in their name, and unexpected people we know are pretty cross about it. In the US, the RIAA affair is, quite literally, a slide into Fascism - a state in which corporations enjoy special privileges and are part of the Government. Here is a 25 year old lawyer actually saying this on his website, that the behaviour of the RIAA is unConstitutional. Either he's hoping to be bought off after the case (cynical) or he has ambitions for a career in politics (much less cynical).
Re:Young lawyer != good lawyer (Score:2, Insightful)
This should be very interesting.
K.A.D. Camara is not only a very bright young lawyer, he also has credentials in computer science and would probably be accepted by the Court as an expert witness on the technology (except for the conflict of roles). Not that he would do that. Just that he could do that.
There is no question that he is going to be more knowledgeable about the technology than any other lawyer or judge involved in the RIAA cases. If Camara wants to rapidly establish himself as THE expert on IT law, this pro bono work is an excellent start.
The RIAA lawyers should be afraid. Very afraid. For whatever his reason might be, they are now facing a crusader who knows the landscape better than they do.
Re:Pro bono doesn't mean out of charity (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:How about NOT stealing your music? (Score:5, Insightful)
Because the parasite music companies engage in price fixing, payola and racketeering in order to steal our money. They profiteer off artists by the same corrupt methods. Because they lobby the government they get away with it. They steal from us as much as humanly possible. It's the kind of relationship THEY created. Now that they are getting the short end of the stick and the universe is balancing out they are crying like a bunch of little babies. Screw them let them starve if they all go out of business the world will be a better place.
Ask how much of the money the RIAA has won they shared with the artists.
Re:Non-PC shorthand (Score:5, Insightful)
When blacks use the word "nigger" it implies a common bond, a shared experience of hardship as a result of slavery
Oh give me a fucking break. In my experience, most of the blacks who use the word nigger are spoiled teenagers and 20-somethings of the "me" generation who know absolutely nothing about hardship or history. Most of the older folks who actually grew up during the civil rights movement rarely use the word and don't look kindly upon those that do.
Re:Non-PC shorthand (Score:3, Insightful)
They do it out of their reverance of the black street culture, not in spite of it. In many informal interactions between blacks and non-blacks, it is acceptable for non-blacks to use the word "nigga" but NOT the word "nigger".
Oh bullshit. Kids, regardless of race, say "nigga" because they think they sound cool when they say it. When the hell do kids say ANYTHING out reverence?
Re:Non-PC shorthand (Score:3, Insightful)
B: Sends photo/video of Ken.
B: That's Ken.
In the future you might only have to "think" to send the message. Almost like telepathy. You might even have artificial "photographic memory", so you can recall and send.
Of course the folks in the RIAA, MPAA and Big Media would probably want DRM installed, and that would not be so good.
The tech will be here soon. I hope the laws get better.
Re:Non-PC shorthand (Score:3, Insightful)