Author: jeralyn

Supreme Court : Copyright Infringement Cases, Different Outcomes

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The record companies are happy today. Text book publishers and authors are not.

The Supreme Court has denied cert in the case of Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a native American who uploaded, downloaded or otherwise shared 24 songs on Kazaa, a now-defunct music file-sharing service, for personal use. The record companies sued, and the ultimate judgment against her, after several retrials and appeals with jury verdicts as high as $1.9 million, was $222,000, or $9,250 per song. The issue, according to the Petition for Cert (which includes the 8th Circuit and trial court's opinions in the Appendix portion):

Is there any constitutional limit to the statutory damages that can be imposed for downloading music online?

Under the copyright infringement statute, it is not necessary for the record company to show actual damages or that the infringer profited from the work. It can seek statutory damages, which allow up to $150,000 for each infringement. The remedies section of the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 504, provides:

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Colorado’s New Gun Control Laws Effective July 1

Posted onAuthorjeralyn

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Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper’s spokesman said today he will sign the new gun control laws passed by the legislature into law. Colorado will now have among the most restrictive laws in the country.

The Colorado laws include a ban on ammunition magazines that can carry more than 15 rounds, and eight shotgun shells. The bill on background checks expands the requirement to sales and transfers between private parties and online purchases.

Two laws that didn’t make it: “a new liability standard for gun owners and sellers, and a ban on concealed weapons on public college campuses.”

A few more are still under consideration: Read More

Guantanamo Hunger Strike: Pentagon Disputes Numbers

Posted onAuthorjeralyn22 Comments

There has been a mass hunger strike going on since February at Guantanamo, mostly by detainees in Camp Six, the least restrictive unit. According to a letter from more than 50 defense lawyers to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, available here, almost all of the 134 detainees in Camp Six are engaged in the hunger strike, and they are dropping like flies.

The Defense Department disputes the numbers, and insists only 14 are being force-fed: 9 involved in the current strike and 5 who always go on hunger strikes. The photo above is of a restraint chair used to force-feed detainees at Gitmo.

The Defense Department spokesmen said one of those [9] hunger strikers, plus five other detainees who have conducted hunger strikes on and off for years, are currently being subjected to enteral feeding, or the forcing of liquid nutrients through a tube down their nose while strapped to a chair.

Defense lawyer David Rames, who represents 14 inmates at Gitmo and saw 6 of them last week, says his clients’ conditions are shocking and none are being force-fed. He says the detainees have to be near death before authorities intervene and force-feed. Read More

Deciphering the Matthew Keys Indictment

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The Indictment against Matthew Keys, the former Sacramento KTXL FOX 40 web producer and Reuters journalist charged in the Eastern District of California for providing members of Anonymous with network login credentials to hack into the server of the station and the LA times (both are owned by the Tribune company), is a bit of a head-scratcher. It seems he started out as double agent of sorts, infiltrating the group for journalistic purposes. Did he change from role-playing in internet chat room sessions to joining in the group’s illegal activity? Clearly, the Government believes he did.

The Indictment is here. One person who turned on him seems to be Anonymous Sabu, aka Hector Monsegur. But others may have as well. Read More