Lawyers push for RIAA to return filesharing money
updated 01:30 pm EDT, Fri May 22, 2009
RIAA filesharing money
Lawyers are now challenging some of the basic tactics of the RIAA's campaign against filesharing, reports note. The most powerful allegations have been put forth in the defense of college student Brittany English, whose pro bono lawyer, K.A.D. Camara, has asked courts to declare RIAA damage requests unconstitutional. The group has asked for unreasonable statutory damages in a ratio as high as 150,000:1, according to Camara, and moreover used the potential judgments to bully individuals into settlements. The RIAA should be made to return the $100 million or more it has accrued through illicit methods, Camara insists.
Operating in support of the case is Harvard law professor Charles Nesson, who is also aiding Camara in the retrial of Jammie Thomas, and a student team at Harvard defending Joel Tenenbaum. "Professor Nesson has played an active role in arranging for Jammie Thomas to be represented," a statement from the students observes. "And yes, with support and input from Professor Nesson and and our team, Thomas' new attorneys will undoubtedly be re-styling and filing some of the arguments we've put forth in Joel's defense here in Boston."
The Harvard team claims it may yet expand the defense of people accused of illegal filesharing. "[We] will need to recruit more students to work on Joel's case in the fall, so we will hopefully be able to have enough manpower to take on even more cases then," according to PR represenative Debbie Rosenbaum.
