The Net baffles Net trial judge
p2pnet.net news:- A British judge says he has the same problem as many (most?) of his American colleagues hearing RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) cases: he apparently doesn’t know much about the Net.
Judge Peter Openshaw was, “struggling to cope with basic terms like ‘Web site’ in the trial of three men accused of inciting terrorism via the Internet,” says Reuters.
“The trouble is I don’t understand the language,” the story has him saying, going on, prosecutor Mark Ellison, “briefly set aside his questioning to explain the terms ‘Web site’ and ‘forum’.”
The 59-year-old judge acknowledged, “I haven’t quite grasped the concepts,” says Reuters, adding:
“Violent Islamist material posted on the Internet, including beheadings of Western hostages, is central to the case.”
Also See:
Reuters – ‘Web site’ baffles Internet terrorism trial judge, May 17, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
May 17th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
if you’ve got judges that don’t even understand what a web site is, how the heck can people trying to defend themselves against an evil corp. like the riaa expected to get a fair deal?
May 17th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
You could argue the same thing if the case involved medical terms.
May 19th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Actually, no you can’t compare the two. Everyone knows what a Doctor is, and while Latin medical terminology may be confusing at least most judges grasp some fundamentals; they may not be able to preform it, but they know what surgery is. What we are dealing with in the U.S. and other countries are judges who don’t even know what the internet is. Using that analogy it would be like a medical malpractice suit where the judge didn’t know what anesthesia or surgery was. From what I have read the more technically ignorant the judge the more they are likely to rule in favor or the RIAA/MPAA. A judge so clueless as to not even know what the web is should recuse himself and allow a younger, more tech savvy judge to take the case.