Thread: RIAA court cases: FSF to the rescue

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...-lawsuits.html

http://p2pnet.net/story/14045

Expert witness fund hopes to balance the scales of justice in RIAA lawsuits

File-sharing lawsuits generally have a David versus Goliath feel to them. On one side is a cabal of multibillion-dollar music behemoths. The other side is a cross-section of Americana—single mothers, grandparents, middle-class suburban families—all of which lack the vast array of resources the RIAA has at hand. A new Expert Witness Defense Fund established today by the Free Software Foundation and the Recording Industry vs The People blog (run by copyright attorney Ray Beckerman) looks to even out the scales of justice.

"I know why you're calling," Beckerman told me. "That could be the most important post I've ever made."

The fund will be used to help defendants cover the costs of expert witnesses used to defend themselves against file-sharing lawsuits brought by the recording industry. In order to get a payout from a fund, a case will have to meet certain criteria. Those include the defendant's willingness to see the case through to conclusion, the importance of the case to critical legal issues, the amount of money spent by the defendant and/or the attorney fighting the infringement claims, the need for assistance and technical expertise, and the competing needs of other cases.

"The importance of the case to the critical legal issues is the most important of the criteria," Beckerman told Ars.

"The fund arose out of discussions that have been going on for quite some time," Beckerman said. "There's such a need for technical expertise in these cases that establishing a fund to pay the costs is so important."

Ultimately, it will be up to the FSF to decide who gets assistance, but the group will be advised by a panel of attorneys chaired by Beckerman. Also serving on the panel are two other copyright attorneys with significant experience fighting the RIAA: Richard Altman and Marilyn Barringer-Thompson, who won almost $70,000 in attorneys fees after her client prevailed against the RIAA in Capitol v. Foster.

"This could be a real catalyst in the file-sharing litigation," Beckerman said. If you agree and want to contribute to the fund, the FSF has a page set up for contributions. If you've found yourself on the wrong end of a file-sharing lawsuit, you can e-mail Beckerman with the subject "Technical Expert Funding Request."

The Gnu and the RIAA’s worst nightmare

p2pnet news | RIAA News:- The Gnu is helping to take on the RIAA and in the process, the RIAA’s worst nightmare is about to come true.

The one major element missing in virtually all the RIAA cases has been the lack of examination of RIAA so-called expert witnesses, the notable exception being Ray Beckerman’s grilling of Dr Doug Jacobson, whose expert testimony he reduced to rubble, with more to come.

Beckerman was, to an extent, able to do this with help from the online P2P communities, with Slashdot and Groklaw to the fore.

Now the Free Software Foundation has stepped in to help establish an Expert Witness Defense Fund for RIAA cases.

The killer is:

Contributions to the fund are entirely tax deductible.

Donors, says the FSF, will also get a listing on our ‘Thank GNUs’ web page for donations of $500 or more (if desired), the satisfaction of supporting the defense of the RIAA lawsuits and, definitely more importantly, the deep and heartfelt thanks of not only the P2P community, but also RIAA victims who before this innovation were forced to watch the likes of Jacobson attempt to snow technically ignorant judges with junk science.

Says Beckerman on Recording Industry vs The People:

1. The sole use of the funds will be to pay fees and/or expenses of technical expert witnesses, forensic examiners, and other technical consultants assisting individuals named as defendants in non-commercial, peer-to-peer file sharing cases brought by the RIAA, EMI, SONY BMG, Vivendi Universal, and Warner Bros. Records, and their affiliated companies, such as Interscope, Arista, UMG, Fonovisa, Motown, Atlantic, Priority, and others.

2. The Fund will be advised by Ray Beckerman, the author of Recording Industry vs. The People, along with a group of selected attorneys acting as advisors. These attorneys will submit payment requests to the Fund, based upon their views as to which cases are most deserving of assistance, and in what at amounts, and at what time.

3. Among the criteria to be considered in making recommendations to the Fund will be the following:

A. The importance of the case to critical legal issues.

B. The demonstrated commitment of the defendant, and/or of the defendant’s attorney if the defendant has an attorney, to seeing his or her case through to conclusion, and to fighting for important legal issues.

C. The facts and circumstances of the particular case.

D. The level of investment made by the defendant, and/or by the defendant’s attorney if the defendant has an attorney, in time, money, and labor, in defending the case.

E. The legal posture of the case.

F. The need for assistance.

G. The need for technical expertise in the case.

H. The quality and commitment of technical expertise which may have been contributed to the case.

I. The competing needs of other cases.

J. And other similar factors.

4. Defendants, or attorneys representing defendants, who request funding for experts or technical consultants, should send requests by email to Ray Beckerman, the subject field reading “Technical Expert Funding Request”.