RIAA expert witness fund needs help
p2pnet news view RIAA | P2P:- Funds are desperately needed for the Free Software Foundation Expert Witness Defense Fund, says Ray Beckerman on Recording Industry versus The People.
The fund exists to help people who are being devastated by Vivendi Universal (France), Sony (Japan), EMI (Britain), and Warner Music (US).
“Devastated” is routinely used by the corporate music industry to justify its attacks on innocent people — and they are innocent by any definition of the word. But the word has no meaning as it’s used by of the corporate music industry: it’s no more than a component of their vicious, government-supported sue ‘em all campaign against their own customers.
I take these attacks very personally because I’m terribly affronted by the fact companies who used to depend on me and people like me for their existence treat me as though I don’t exist.
I say ‘used to’ because it’s been a very long time since I bought anything that was in any way connected to, or associated with, the corporate recording industry.
They’re completely indifferent to us as people. They think they can walk all over us with impunity. To me, and probably to you, that’s infuriating.
America is usually where the attacks (called ‘initiatives’) begin and Recording Industry Association of America staff, led by Mitch Bainwol and Cary Sherman with such as Cara Duckworth and Jonathan Lamy up front, operate against innocent people on instructions from a shadowy clique of lawyers funded individually and collectively by Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony.
With the corporate owned mainstream media and American government firmly in lockstep, they pretend they’ve abandoned their attacks.
But they haven’t.
Not even nearly
The lawsuits are continuing unchecked, RIAA propaganda that they’ve been halted notwithstanding, and they’re happening with the upfront cooperation of elected politicians, the very people paid substantial salaries to supposedly protect us from this kind of thing; and the on- and offline print and electronic media who, according to their charters, are supposed to be exposing this kind of travesty.
Instead, they’re supporting it with one-sided – the Big Music side – reporting.
Balance on hand:…………….$2,435.10
The RIAA defendants fund is used to help men, women and even young children, pay experts to counteract the ever-deepening bullshit spread in US civil courts principally by Holme Roberts & Owen lawyers acting for the RIAA.
“This fund exists for the purpose of aiding victims of the RIAA’s litigation campaign by helping to pay for technical experts and consultants,” says Beckerman.
“The fund provided assistance in UMG v Lindor, where the excellent expert witness report of Johan Pouwelse was produced, and in Capitol Records v Thomas, where the excellent expert witness report of Yongdae Kim was produced.”
Contributions tax-deductible and you can find out how and where by clicking the picture on the right, or by going to https://www.fsf.org/associate/riaa.
Below is an updated report of where the fund stands as of March 24, 2009:
Total funds received to date:…$8232.02
Grants (Lindor) 2796.92
(Thomas) 3000.00
Total grants made to date:…….5796.92
Total administrative expenses:… -0-
Balance on hand:…………….$2,435.10
And I’d like to add a request of my own.
I’m sure there are people out there who’d qualify as expert witnesses and whose help would be invaluable in putting the RIAA and their lawyers where they belong: in the dust.
Contact Ray at Recording Industry versus The People to find out if you’d qualify as an expert witness — especially if you’d be willing to offer your help without payment just because you think it’s the right thing to do, and to help ordinary people who can’t help themselves.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
March, 2009
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