Justice is Blind(ed)
The best verdict money can buy? You be the judge.
2009-April-24
2 Comments »
The URI to TrackBack this entry is: http://tottinge.blogsome.com/2009/04/24/justice-is-blinded/trackback/
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
It is sad that the judge didn’t think it necessary to rescue himself given that there is at least the appearance of bias on his part. I also think the sentence was excessive, but I expect they will get a new trial on appeal.
Knowing how you feel about the subject, I should keep my mouth shut… but…
Personally I always thought that throughout the trial the Pirate Bay defendants were more than a little arrogant and that they were parsing the law a little too fine. Their entire defense was always “We didn’t PERSONALLY steal anyone’s intellectual property…” While that is LITERALLY true, what they did do was:
* Create a peer to peer network, and the infrastructure to support it that was very specifically designed to prevent tracking down the source of files that were uploaded or downloaded.
* Actively ENCOURAGE others to use THEIR infrastructure for the express purpose of uploading and illegally sharing the intellectual property of others.
* Widely advertise the availability of said illegally obtained content to others by way of THEIR infrastructure.
* Actively brag and gloat about how they would forever get away with this because the laws of their country were “different”.
Then, when finally the government of Sweden changed course and agreed to follow the same rules as the remainder of the Western world, these guys feign righteous indignation over their “unjust” prosecution.
I have issues with the way that the music and movie industry have dealt with the whole file sharing debacle, but the guys at Pirate Bay always turned my stomach. While not on the same moral level their defense resembles a pimp saying that he never PERSONALLY engaged in prostitution…
Sorry if I offended anyone. Delete the post if you must.
Comment by Walter Moore — 2009-April-25 @ 02:45
No need for deletion or apology. I’m not in favor of copyright violation, so I think that something needed to be done. I never used pirate bay, myself. It’s a scofflaw thing, as far as I’m concerned.
I’m not in favor of bad copyright law, such as extending music copyrights for 70 years, or allowing corporations to hold onto copyrights longer than an individual could (or in fact, holding copyrights at all).
I think that the judge should have recused himself as well, that the trial & sentencing is far too likely to be biased when the judge is a member of the opposition.
Finally, there is the old Uncle Bob addage that the way to make money is by providing value, not by outsmarting other people. If someone is counting on clever interpretations and deniability, they’re already trying to outsmart.
I just hate the way the music industry has mishandled the file sharing, but that has much more to do with fair use of music I’ve paid for than with access to for-sale stuff I have not paid for. I think the RIAA/MPAA persecution… sorry.. prosecution has been overboard and that the whole “make an example of them” thing is a miscarriage of justice. I don’t want the industry making money by intimidation any more than I want the file traders to profit by shady actions.
The main thing for me is fair use. I paid for some songs. I want freedom for making backups and enjoying the songs via time-shifting, format-shifting, and even (gasp!) random shuffling. All of these are things that the industry tries hard to prevent. I also oppose a pay-per-listen plan or a music rental system. I don’t have to repurchase any other media, and should not have to rebuy songs or movies over and over. So I think this trial is just one set of bad guys going after another group of bad guys. More “muscling in on my turf” than anything else.
So I’m okay with what you say, and it gets a permanent place here.
Comment by Tim — 2009-April-25 @ 03:10