FSF Reaches Out to RIAA Victims

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In what has been termed the ''RIAA's worst nightmare', the Free Software Foundation has announced that it is coming to the aid of the victims of RIAA lawsuits, by establishing an Expert Witness Defense Fund to assist defendants in RIAA cases. The purpose of the fund is 'to help provide computer expert witnesses to combat RIAA's ongoing lawsuits, and to defend against the RIAA's attempt to redefine copyright law.' The funds will be used to pay fees and/or expenses of technical expert witnesses, forensic examiners, and other technical consultants assisting individuals named as defendants in non-commercial, peer-to-peer file sharing cases brought by the RIAA, EMI, SONY BMG, Vivendi Universal, and Warner Bros. Records, and their affiliated companies, such as Interscope, Arista, UMG, Fonovisa, Motown, Atlantic, Priority, and others."

Can you imagine...

[morgan_greywolf]

Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of NewYorkCountryLawyers?

Copyright

[geggam]

I am still waiting for someone to point out that everything digital is really nothing but a 0 or a 1.

Everyone is copying everything.

HARK!

[mpgalvin]

Stallman! [xkcd.com]

20 years from now

[pwnies]

our children won't be watching cartoons like Captain Planet, which reflects the hippy nature of the 70's. Rather they'll be watching something subtly using themes of the goodness of sharing, and the evils of the RIAA. "Linus Torvalds with the power of Open Source!" *cut scene to Linus and a team of ninja penguins stopping a kid from cracking a program and giving him an open source alternative* "Mark Shuttleworth with the power of Benevolence!" *cut to Mark in a space shuttle signing a contract to pour money into a new open source development* "Bram Cohen with the power of File Sharing Protocols!" *Just show him solving one of his many rubiks cubes. It's awesome enough.* FSF with the power of Legal Aid! *Show a personified version of FSF smacking down a court order against an innocent mother* By their powers combined, they form internet's greatest hero! Captain 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0! Kickass.

Re:And what about?

[Anonymous Coward]

If the DNS don't fit you must acquit!

Re:Copyright

[Anonymous Coward]

/me rushes off to patent office Haha!

Place your bets

[NaCh0]

Which will happen first?

The end of digital restrictions or the dominance of GNU HURD?

Re:Can you imagine...

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of NewYorkCountryLawyers?

At the risk of getting modded down.....

:)

Re:20 years from now

[5c11]

Don't forget Negroponte - "with the power of Heart!"