[Solar-general] el desastre obama

Dom Feb 8 22:40:00 CET 2009

como era previsible a un democrata su gobierno sera caracteristico del
soft power y la potenciacion de los negocios TIC y no los hard como el
petroleo de la era bushista

esperemos lo peor

> http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2009/02/06/riaa_takes_over_doj.php

RIAA Takes Over DOJ

February 6, 2009

Posted by Alan Wexelblat

OK, enough with the funny stuff. The new Obama administration is
shaping up to be a disaster for Copyfighters everywhere. In particular
the new Department of Justice is stacked with lawyers who've been on
the wrong side of copyright and intellectual property lawsuits for the
last eight years.

First off, there's the #3 man at Justice, Thomas Perrelli, accurately
described by CNET as "beloved by the RIAA"
(http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10133425-38.html). Not only has
this guy been on the wrong side in the courtroom, he's fingered as
instrumental in convincing the Copyright Board to strangle Web radio
in its crib by imposing impossible fee structures
(http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2007/03/05/copyright_office_set_to_kill_web_radio.php).

Then there's Neil MacBride, who used to be the Business Software
Alliance's general counsel
(http://www.bsa.org/country/Public%20Policy/Copyright.aspx). The BSA,
to its credit, hasn't been suing teenagers. Generally their name is
associated with large-scale raids on companies that are mass-producing
illegal copies of software
(http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/02/03/technology/technology_30094856.php).
Still, it's an industry flak group.

Then there's the #2 man, currently slated to be David Ogden. If that
name only rings a faint bell it's because you have to cast your mind
back to Eldred v Ashcroft, the argument on whether retroactive
copyright term extensions were legal
(http://eldred.cc/eldredvashcroft.html). Sitting over there on
Ashcroft's side? That's Mr. Odgen. For extra-bonus ick points, Ogden
also was involved in defending the heinous COPA legislation,
fortunately now dead and buried (but not forgotten)
(http://epic.org/free_speech/censorship/copa.html).

The capper on this line-up of suspicious characters is Donald
Verrilli, now up for Associate Deputy Attorney General. This specimen
of legal acumen is front and center in the Cartel's jihad, having
appeared for Viacom when it sued YouTube
(http://news.cnet.com/Viacom-sues-Google-over-YouTube-clips/2100-1030_3-6166668.html),
for the RIAA against Jammie Thomas, single mother
(http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2007/10/05/cartel_gets_big_money_to_fill_in_big_hole.php).
And if we peer back a little farther, we find Verrilli's dirty
fingerprints on MGM v Grokster
(http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2005/06/27/mgm_v_grokster_what_happened.php).

So what does all this portend? Well, if you ask Julian Sanchez over at
Portfolio.com he thinks it's a tempest in a teapot
(http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/the-tech-observer/2009/02/06/obamas-doj-picks-cause-for-concern).
He thinks they'll all behave and recuse themselves properly and just
because a lawyer consistently goes to bat for a certain kind of client
doesn't mean much about their professional views. Lawyers are paid
guns, after all, and the Cartel's side has consistently paid well.

Declan McCullagh, over at CNET, is much less sanguine, pointing out
that many of these cases are still ongoing (e.g. big lawsuits against
YouTube) and further noting that Vice President Biden showed a great
deal of hostility toward free use when he was in the Senate
(http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10157381-38.html).

I'm on Declan's side. To the extent that someone has to set the tone
of this administration in dealing with intellectual property matters,
it's looking pretty grim.

-- 
Diego Saravia
Diego.Saravia en gmail.com
NO FUNCIONA->dsa en unsa.edu.ar