RIAA trial: Capitol v. Thomas

Originally posted to the Self-Referential Orgy (SRO) list.

Some people on this list will probably be interested to know that this morning began the first jury trial between the RIAA and someone they accuse of sharing pirated music via KaZaa. So far, out of the 20,000 cases the RIAA has made against people for pirating, this is the first one to actually make it to court.

Ars Technica is at the trial and making reports. Here are some choice parts:

• Sony BMG’s chief anti-piracy lawyer: “Copying” music you own is “stealing”
• RIAA anti-P2P campaign a real money pit, according to testimony

And the latest entry:

• Defendant’s counsel hammers away at piracy picture painted by RIAA

Which has this humorous bit:

Judge Michael Davis gave his assent to the demonstration, and, after the jury filed back into the courtroom, Thomas ripped two CDs, timing it on her cell phone. When the first CD was done, she announced the time as 2:36.18. Gabriel immediately objected saying that they timed it at over four minutes. The apparently-amused judge said that the jurors could figure out the time for themselves. The second CD ripped in 2:17.71 according to the defendant’s timing (I timed the second demonstration in 2:18.97). Gabriel again objected, saying that he had it at three-and-a-half minutes.