Media Wonk

Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

RIAA facing split decision - October 4, 2007

The first of the RIAA's lawsuits against alleged downloaders to go to trial should be turned over to the jury today after three days of testimony. A verdict is likely to be returned quickly, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.

When it does come, it's likely to contain both more and less than meets the eye.

Whichever way the verdict goes, it's not going to be a definitive judgment on downloading, despite what some critics of the RIAA may be hoping. The defense in the case isn't even contesting the legality or illegality of unauthorized downloading; it merely contends the plaintiffs cannot prove the defendant's guilt.

The judge in the case has also shown no appetite for turning it into a show trial. On Wednesday he barred RIAA president Cary Sherman from testifying, ruling that the evidence Sherman could offer of the damage piracy has done to the music industry is not relevant to the question at issue in the case, which is simply whether defendant Jammie Thomas committed copyright infringement.

What makes the case potentially significant is the defense's strategy. Defense attorney Brian Toder called no witnesses other than the defendant. His entire case was simply that the defense cannot clearly tie Thomas to the username 'tereastarr,' associated with the IP address targeted by RIAA investigators.

The RIAA obtained the username by securing a subpoena against Charter Communications, compelling the ISP to divulge the physical address connected to a particular IP address. But the defense contends that there is no evidence to tie that address to a specific computer owned by the defendant or a particular user of the computer.

Should the RIAA lose the case, it would be a blow to the investigative and legal strategy it has used in thousands of other cases filed around the country. If evidence obtained from ISPs linking specific IP addresses with specific user accounts is not sufficient to establish guilt in court many more defendants are likely to resist settling cases.




[Digital Copyright]  [Legal]   LEAVE A COMMENT