[LINK] RIAA wins, usenet.com loses

[Jan Whitaker]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/judge-throws-book-at-usenetcom-in-riaa-lawsuit.ars

A federal judge yesterday found Usenet.com liable 
for just about every copyright infringement claim 
on the books: direct infringement, inducement of 
infringement, contributory infringement, and 
(just for good measure) vicarious infringement. 
Not content to be loud and proud about its 
pro-pirate agenda, Usenet.com also resorted to 
stonewalling legal questionnaires, sending 
employees to Europe to avoid depositions, wiping 
hard drives, and failing to turn over e-mail 
after being sued in 2007 by the music labels.

The recording industry's high-octane litigation 
campaign has on many occasions suffered from 
"poor targeting," but it's hard to see any 
complexities in this case. When Usenet.com 
employees privately suggested that the service's 
tag line should be "piracy, porno, and pictures 
­Usenet," "Usenet is full of music and movies so 
get your pirate on!," or "Bless the Usenet and 
all that it steals!," it's clear they knew why 
people were paying $4.95 to $18.95 a month for 
the privilege of accessing the newsgroups. And 
not only did they know, they allegedly took steps 
to encourage the infringement.
[snip]




Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the 
world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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