the jury did just what it was told to do. the jury is not to be faulted for the verdict. the fault is in the law.

the judge tells the jury what the law is, and orders the jury to enforce it. This is the first constitutional hypocrisy. The Jury is the law. “You are the law.” Paul Neuman in the Verdict had it right.

People ask how can common-sense juries have returned verdicts of $675k against Joel and $1.92 mil against Jammie Thomas Rasset? The answer is the verdict form and the judge’s order to the jurors to fill it in as they are told. The jury is not to blame. The fault lies with the interpretation of the law that shaped the form and with the judge’s order that the jury is bound to it. Congress never authorized it. Our Constitution does not condone it.

On this we have just begun to fight.

There is no place on the verdict form for judgment whether what Joel did was right or wrong, fair or unfair. The law the RIAA persuaded the judge to impose simply declared the conduct of a generation to be wrong, no jury trial. Just fill in the form, the jury’s only task to say how much the defendant must pay, with instructed minimum and maximum for each infringement.

thirty times

The jurys’ bankrupting verdicts are not flukes. They are the product of rotten law. Proof in math is often made by reductio ad absurdum: If your logic leads to absurd result then your premise must be wrong.

Fairness and Justice are jury issues, in this case taken from the jury, the jury’s fundamental function nullified.

The table is now set. The question is presented. Next event is Judge Gertner’s opportunity (or not) to remit the excessive award against Joel to a reasonable (constitutional) amount.

yesterday my class in evidence watched obama’s inauguration live on the net along with millions of others. cable clearly clearer and more reliable but net ok

we have been lured by copyright to think of the public domain as what’s left over after copyright has taken its share.

who owns the copyright in the inauguration event
no one you say
who owns the copy rights in recordings of it
may i freely copy from nbc

who makes the recording that is in the public domain
who makes the recording available to the public

joel has the net in back of him
like the verizon commercial

 http://digg.com/tech_news/Students_law_p…

during the interim period a trial unfolds within the structure of the federal rules presided over by a federal judge

all of the emnities of the past imposed by riaa’s abuse of music lovers and computer users are brought to the surface of our national consciousness and resolved.

the trial process itself is understood and represented as civic education

we the people conceptually instantiated

our love for creative artists expressed

terry fisher for copy-law czar, founder of i-law

building on john palfrey’s task force report to Attorneys General

zittrain to show kids the way tol digital empowerment

berkman center to underwrite bringing joel’s case to the open net

hi cary,

thanks for your note. i don’t really understand why you are continuing the litigation, but if that’s your position then i ask you to agree to our motion, just filed, to admit internet to the courtroom, and then to join with me in making the trial the best possible example of civil discourse within the rules of federal civil procedure.

happy holidaze
best to you and family from me and fern

listen

Interesting…

“Indeed, many in the music industry felt the lawsuits had outlived their
usefulness.”

Here’s an article in the new york times about Breyer listening and hearing what the Oregon judges are saying, speaking in their lawyer’s language about instructions to the jury, and Souter asking core questions.

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon
gotta love it

adam liptak

and then Roberts batting clean-up
where’s he from
home run

“Is there a way for us to ensure against a bad-faith response to our decision?”
Justice Souter asked. Chief Justice Roberts had an answer. Get to the issue at the core so that our decision earns respect. The Supreme Court has no troops to enforce its judgments on lower courts. Supreme Court authority is respect for law, which starts with judges understanding the true source of their power.

where is a transcript of this magnificent exchange
where is the audio/video
why do i not have this to teach to my class

today’s a busy day
here’s from matt:

Charlie,