Issue of the Case

A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc

The issues of this case are quite simple. Free distribution of copyrighted material. The music industry brought charges against Napster, Inc. alleging copyright infringement. They had also found that, "the “sharing” of the copyrighted files was not fair use and was not within other exemptions from and limitations on copyright infringements created by the Audio Home Recording Act or the Digital Millennium Copyright Act." In recourse, Napster argued that they were protected and not held liable due to the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Milennium Copyright Act. The music industry was realy trying to attack the user's themselves but settled for the "Master" source. The issues included in this case at this time have impacted the music industry severely. "Music piracy has reached epic proportions and costs the music industry and estimated $300 million per year." And with that amount... one wouldn't think they would be able to recover all that well in the coming future. It's not that difficult to understand that the real matter at hand is the concern regarding the "Boundries between sharing and theft, personal use and the unauthorized worldwide distribution of copyrighted music and sound recordings." Protection of copyrighted material is key in this case and is the overwhelming issue. But there is a unique gift when it comes to "sharing" music... and that is the ability to find exactly what you're looking for (at the time) without a hassle. For example, one can find "Sesame Street‘s "Rubby Ducky" song in German." And who doesn't want that!?

SPAM

... combined with some eggs and rice, you're in for a delicious meal. But digitally, SPAM is a massive annoyance in your inbox. I’ve experienced it, you’ve experienced it, and any AOL 2.0 user has experienced it. Spam is no laughing matter, unless you on the receiving end of the lucrative scheme and don’t get caught.

Well, of course some people in our digital world are naive enough to click through the emails, hone in on one link and prepare to submit their credit card information for some animal growth hormones to make their testes the size of bowling balls! Sadly, those that have funded these off-shore research facilities have realized that they’ve been had when they bail on eHarmony dates because their pills haven’t come in and they’re left alone, depressed, and contemplating ordering some of the happy pill ads that keep filling up their inbox.

There’s a lot of SPAM in this world and there have been major combatants against it. SpamHaus, which is a network of Australia, New Zealand, India, China and the United States banding together to assist in our “War on Spammer.” Their most recent take down is a head Al-Qu… I mean a Big Wig of SPAM dealing prowess. I’m glad that they were able to take down this major king pin and thwarting his reign of 10 billion SPAM emails a day! I can definitely sleep well a night as my blackberry holds back the Gmail updates until noon…


http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/12/22/1229794316883.html

Supreme Court Case of Interest

A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001), was an important intellectual property case in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the defendant, Napster, could be held liable for contributory infringement of the plaintiff record company's copyrights.

I've selected this Supreme Court Case as it has some direct correlation with my lifestyle. I'm not saying that I download pirated music, but I know somebody that has. Piracy is an ever growing practice amongst the unemployed youth of America. And why not... They're cooped up in their parent-paid homes using their parent-paid internet connection on most likely their parent-paid computers downloading music, which to them is absolutely free. It's hard to imagine the era of Napster that I was raised in with some kind of payment policy in order to download the music. At that time, I was that parent-paid youngster... but now days I have more to worry about then music.

Through the following weeks and posts, we'll dig a little deeper in to what made this court case really pop.


http://www.dml.indiana.edu/pdf/AnalysisOfNapsterDecision.pdf

http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/239_F3d_1004.htm

3's About Me.

Three Names I have been called: "dee-ray" "duhveed" "dig"

Three Jobs I have had in my life (include unpaid if you have to): Designing Headstones for Palm Mortuary's Memorial Design Center. Making coffee for the almighty Starbucks Coffee Company. Information and Multimedia Technician for UNLV's Office of Information Technology.

Three Places I Have Lived: Guam. East Las Vegas. West Las Vegas.

Three TV Shows that I watch: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Rescue me. The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.

Three places I have been: California. Washington D.C. Hawaii.

People that e-mail me regularly: Jillian Minimi. Danny Kam. Craigslist Creepers.

Three of my favorite foods: Pizza. Pasta. Sushi.

Three cars I have driven: 1987 Mazda RX-7. 1997 Acura Integra. 2006 Volkswagen GTI.

Three things I am looking forward to: An enjoyable Career. Traveling. Family.

Greed is Good.

Of course it is. I would only say this if I were actually employed in the “high yielding bank bonding stock marketing investment banking money laundering fraud” market that we hold so dear to our economic heart. Yes, greed is good. Greed is what’s held above our heads in hopes of attaining. Greed is what allows us to be persistent in the lower-middle class that we strive to bust out of. Greed is what I feel, keeps me on my toes for the next freelance, under the table, drug smuggling job that I can get my hands on. If it wasn’t for greed, most of us wouldn’t be where we are today. Why shouldn’t we strive to be wealthy individuals? If we didn’t strive for the best, we just wouldn’t be living in America. The “American Dream,” is what everyone in the world wants a taste of. It’s bittersweet flavor, ignorantly crusted with selfishness, seared to perfection atop a bed of money bags and au jus… I can’t forget the slab of A1 on this medium rare delicacy that we all know and love, but I think that would taint it’s open pastured, organic flavor. We’ve had many intelligent conversations on the subject of life, greed, money, sex, and rock’n’roll. For example, Gecko’s "Greed is Good" speech is so blatantly honest, that it’s a sincere explanation of what goes down on the street. (And by street, I mean Wall St.) Also, we can’t forget everyone’s favorite Cuban immigrant… Tony Montana who states, “I want what’s comin’ to me Chico… The world.” Now, show me where I can get my bonus so that I can be loyal to you until next year.

In response to the Smash-Me: Bernie Madoff toy (hammer included)… I would like to see something similar but with interchangeable parts, such as limbs, heads and artificial breasts. Let’s get some celebratory smashes on Britney spears, Lindsay Lohan, Perez Hilton and others in the reality television realm that VH1 and MTV have forced me to watch vicariously through my significant other. Damn their subliminal messages in vanity, greed and 15 minutes of fame.

What My Classmates Think Of The Legal System.

Ah, the joys of peer opinions. What classmates think about the law is just as important as what I think. Obviously, they have just as big an effect on it as I do… and as a union of opinions, hopefully striving towards the same goals, we can unanimously reign supreme… This is what a few had to say about it:
In regards to the ludicracy of some of our laws, Richmond Pham had this to say,

“Maybe that is why they say that studying law at a prestigious school like Harvard will most likely make you kill yourself before you can graduate.” (http://ailvbus111.blogspot.com/)

I completely agree. It’s sad to see a feeble minded individual take their own life, but it’s even worse to see a Harvard Collegiate take their life all because of their Business Law teacher. Especially if that could have been my spot in their lottery…
As I read through some of these blogs a certain pink tattered layout stands out. Stacia Woody writes,

“The legal Officials need more training on how to carry out the law. There are always complaints.” (http://enviousdesigns.blogspot.com/)

If I got a nickel for every complaint made towards how enforcers of the law, enforce the laws… I’d be richer then Bill Gates, but a few billion short of Ingvar Kamprad (founder of Ikea). I agree with the her statement that denounces the ways our officials enforce the law. But, America has no way of staying ahead of the curve. In this country we have a freedom of speech and some people take advantage of that… Sadly, they complain about every little thing that goes wrong, as well as complaining about the things that go right! It’s a shame, but we live with it.
In closing, a wise man once said,

“For the most part the idea of the legal system is simple: follow the law and the law will not follow you.” (Andrew Veliz, http://sincidkid24.blogspot.com/)

I hope I don’t have any law officials watching me right now. Their hot and heavy breathing over a tapped phone just gets eerie and begs me to start listing my number as a sex hotline. But I do agree with what Andrew is saying… Don’t become that person sending signal flares up in the air when you’re stealing bicycles in your neighborhood… keep it on the DL. Got it?

Used Cars - Crimes & Torts

Crimes
1. Assault- the guy accuses the kurt Russell things he might not have done
2. Battery- the guy in the bar slaps him and the guy fights him back
3. Fraud- Tampering with videotape
4. Illegal Gambling- betting on sports games
5. Bribery of a Public Official- while they were in the car
6. Bribery of the Attorney- other lawyer bribed others in the room
7. Obstruction of the Courtroom- disrupting the court, coming in late
8. Perjury- the girl lied under oath
9. Sexual harassment- the guy who sold the cars, grabbed the girls boob
10. Speeding- driving over the speed limit
11. Reckless driving-
12. Drug Dealing- on with the reefer
13. Unlicensed drivers
14. Driving on the the wrong side of the road
15. No registration/insurance
16. Illegal weapons/
17. Attempted assault with a deadly weapon
18. Battery with the chain when he was whipping him
19. Kidnapping/hostage- while that old man jumped on the car
20. Trespassing on private property- driving offroad
21. Driving on the shoulder
22. Cutting the car off the tow truck
23. Crossing a railroad crossing with a train in motion
24. Knowingly falsifying information to make a sale
25. Didn’t yield to the intersection while driving on the way to the lot
26. Speeding in a construction zone
27. Knowingly crashed through a police barricade
28. Damaging to federal (police) property
29. Leaving the scene of the crime
30. Jaywalking- in the end the guy who hates driving red cars

Torts
1. Damaging private property- in the bar, the guy threw the chair at the bar mirror
2. Damaging Private property- taking the girls umbrella, ruining their dinner
3. Cutting the car off the tow truck
4. Slander- accusing the judge of being crooked/ taking bribes
5. Violating the people’s dinner at the bar
6. Violation of personal property- tampering with tow truck
7. Violation of private property- letting the car loose
8. Damaging the car lot- kids crashing through warehouses

Group
David Resto
Andrew Veliz
Richmond Pham
Stacia Woody