P2P

It looks like the strategy to take when sued by the RIAA is to move for summary judgment based on lack of evidence. That’s worked twice now, as an Oklahoma mom and her lawyer have been able to gain a dismissal with prejudice of Capitol Records v. Foster.

It gets better. The defendant made a motion for summary judgment, which is akin to calling someone else’s bluff at a poker table. The legal equivalent of saying “Put up or shut up“, if you will. When pressed with the motion, the RIAA made its own motion.. for the door. The judge approved the RIAA’s motion to withdraw the case, leaving Ms. Foster, at least partially, vindicated.The RIAA was able to slink back from the table and out the door but not without penalty. The court held that Ms. Foster is the “prevailing party” (legal talk for.. “she beat you at your own game”) which means the RIAA is liable for fees and costs incurred by Ms. Foster in her pursuit to clear her name.

The Court indicated that it would decide the attorneys fees award question upon receipt of a motion for attorneys fees. You can find the gory details of the ruling here. (”July 13, 2006, Order Dismissing Case and Finding Defendant to be Eligible for Award of Attorneys Fees against Plaintiffs”)

This is the second time the RIAA has backed down when presented with a motion for summary judgment. The first being the case of 13 year old Brittany Chan.

My faith in the legal system, if still bruised, has been partially restored. I can only hope that the bravery of Ms. Foster, and that of the Chan family, will be a beacon to others in a similar situation. The RIAA, who indiscriminately sue those who are young, old, dead or without a computer, cannot be allowed to continue their assault on your civil liberties unchecked.

You’ve probably noticed a few new names here at Download Squad over the last few days. That’s because we’ve got a pile of new bloggers and are set to get even more. Right now you can look forward to seeing posts from:

• Chris Gilmer from The Unofficial Google Weblog
• Grant Robertson from Droxy and The P2P Weblog
• Ryan Carter from The Unofficial Microsoft Weblog
• Joe Beaulaurier and Chris Price from The Unofficial Yahoo! Weblog
• Ted Wallingford and Mike Sciannamea from The VoIP Weblog

I couldn’t be more excited about the considerable expertise and unbridled enthusiasm that these fine bloggers will be bringing to Download Squad.

If you happen to be coming here from one of those blogs and are interested only in that topic, you can bookmark its category page (see the sidebar to the right) or subscribe to its feed: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, P2P, and VoIP.

With all this new talent showing up more or less all at once, you can expect things here at Download Squad to be a little topsy-turvy for the next week or two (e.g. six Google posts in a row!), but once it’s settled down I think it will be the best software and computing blog in the land, not only because of our great bloggers but also because of our smart and enthusiastic readers. Thanks for reading!