Nesson Denied

[This is the article I was referring to in class tonight.]

Music downloading hearing can't be streamed online
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS, Associated Press Writer Russell Contreras, Associated Press Writer
Thu Apr 16, 8:15 pm ET

BOSTON – Oral arguments in a music downloading lawsuit filed by the recording industry against a Boston University student can't be streamed online, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a previous decision that allowed online streaming and said it was "bound to enforce" rules that close federal courtrooms in Massachusetts to webcasting and other forms of broadcast.

Charles Nesson, a Harvard Law School professor representing student Joel Tenenbaum, had requested that a courtroom video service be allowed to transmit a hearing to the school's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, which wanted to stream it unedited on its Web site with free access.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner approved the request in January.

But the Recording Industry Association of America, a Washington, D.C., trade group representing the U.S. recording industry, appealed the decision, arguing that it violated federal court guidelines on cameras and threatened its ability to get a fair trial.

The federal appeals court agreed with the recording industry and said Gertner's ruling was based on "incorrect interpretation" of the law.

"This is not a case about free speech writ large, nor about guaranty of a fair trial," the court wrote, but about "the governance of the federal court."

Nesson said the ruling was disappointing but not unexpected.

"The judges, they are from a different age," he said. "They don't recognize that the Internet is fundamentally different than traditional media."

He vowed to pursue appeals in every possible way, including the U.S. Supreme Court. But he also said the ruling would not delay the substantive proceedings in the Tenenbaum case and he would go forward with motions before Gertner.

RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth said the organization was pleased with the appeals court's decision and looked forward to moving on to the copyright infringement case.

Fourteen news organizations, including The Associated Press and The New York Times Co., had urged the appeals court to allow online streaming.

In a concurring opinion, Judge Kermit Lipez agreed that Gertner erred in allowing webcasting of oral arguments. But Lipez wrote that existing rules prohibiting online streaming should be re-examined.

Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., is accused of downloading at least seven songs and making 816 music files available for distribution on the Kazaa file-sharing network in 2004.

He offered to settle the case for $500, but music companies rejected that, ultimately demanding $12,000. He could be forced to pay $1 million if it is determined his alleged actions were willful.

The recording industry has said in court documents that its efforts to enforce the copyright law are protected under the First Amendment.

In December, the group said it had abandoned its policy of suing people for sharing songs protected by copyright and will work with Internet service providers to cut abusers' access if they ignore repeated warnings.

The recording association said it will still continue to litigate outstanding cases.

Class on Monday 4/13

As noted by Korey earlier today, our make-up class will take place in Rusty Dobbs on Monday. The class will be recorded for those who cannot make it.

Jeremy will be giving a short (less than one hour) lecture. There is no reading assignment (other than the Dean's List day-of). I will spend the second hour distributing the final issue list and reviewing the answers to questions that have already been sent my way, in addition to some general review. If there are topics you would like addressed, please let me know as soon as possible. If you will not be in class, you may get the issue list by emailing me / getting a copy from Korey.

Have a great weekend!

More on Nesson and the P2P case

How great was Marglin's lecture! For those who missed it, you are encouraged to listen to the recording that should be available via the library / Korey.

Here are some additional materials on the case - one from the Dean's List today and one from David - thanks, David!

http://blog.pff.org/archives/2009/04/tenebaum_two-card_monte_and_the_sophistry_of_profe.html#more

http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/files/audio/09-1090.mp3 (slow to load today)

French Parliament Rejects "Three-Strikes" P2P Legislation

http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2009/04/09/french-parliament-rejects-%2526quot%3Bthree-strikes%2526quot%3B-p2p-legislation

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 9, 2009 - 8:20am.
Paris - The French Parliament has surprisingly voted against the "three-strikes" law that would see repeat file-swappers lose their Internet connections, after both the National Assembly and Senate approved differing versions of the bill, according to published reports. Apparently, the ruling UMP party was overconfident that it had enough votes to pass the legislation, but not enough members showed up for the vote, and Socialist parliamentarians showed up in force at the last minute to defeat the bill, by a vote of 21-15.

"It's an immense joy," Socialist legislator Patrick Bloche told the Associated Press.

French Culture Minister Christine Albanel plans to reintroduce the bill later this month, Ars Technica reported.

"It is disappointing that the law was not confirmed today, but we understand that the French Government will be resubmitting the law very shortly," John Kennedy, head of international record label trade group IFPI, told Ars Technica.

Posting Nesson Link / Reminder re Issue List

If you reviewed the Dean’s List yesterday you may have noticed Dean Kay’s references to Nesson (professor at Harvard Law) and a current file sharing case ("Harvard P2P Lawyer: File-Swapping Is Fair Use— No, Really!" and "Harvard Prof. Praises 'File-Sharing Radiohead'")

David Marglin will address this topic in class (as a relevant current event – not as part of his lecture, per se), including some detail based on his own experience with the matter. If you have particular interest in this topic, you should review the following:

Read this down to p 14:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13831120/Nessonblog33009

… to where it starts to be TOP EVIDENCE EXAMS 2009...

REMINDER: Please send me your issue lists before class tomorrow.