P2P hearing won’t be streamed online

A U.S. federal appeals court won’t allow a Boston trial judge to have an upcoming hearing between the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and an alleged peer-to-peer file sharing defendant streamed live over the Internet.

The RIAA immediately objected to a possible live webcast, stating that it could be "readily subject to editing and manipulation," and asked the federal court to evaluate the decision.  The case is specific to Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum, who is being defended by Harvard University law professor Charles Nesson and several of his graduate students. 

Nesson is challenging the RIAA’s lawsuit and whether or not the Copyright Act is constitutional, as it calls for penalties up to $150,000 per copyrighted music file shared.  But before that, Nesson is expected to appeal this most recent ruling to the US Supreme Court before the federal case in Massachusetts occurs.

US District Judge Nancy Gertner made an "unprecedented" and "palpably incorrect" ruling when she decided to allow the case to be streamed, according to the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

If it was allowed to occur, it would have marked the first time an RIAA file sharing hearing would have been streamed online.  The RIAA has sued more than 30,000 people accused of sharing copyrighted music over P2P networks, but recently shifted its tactics and said that it will work with ISPs instead of suing individuals.