RIAA hearing to be streamed online

Against the objections of the Recording Industry Association of America, a federal judge will allow the hearing for a copyright infringement lawsuit to be streamed over the Internet.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner granted the request of Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson, who has been following the case with his CyberOne class. Gertner said she didn’t understand why the RIAA would want to keep the case out of the public eye.

"At previous hearings and status conferences, the Plaintiffs have represented that they initiated these lawsuits not because they believe they will identify every person illegally downloading copyrighted material. Rather, they believe that the lawsuits will deter the Defendants and the wider public from engaging in illegal file-sharing activities," Gertner said. "Their strategy effectively relies on the publicity resulting from this litigation."

Ars Technica suggests that Gertner could very well agree to a stream of the entire case, in addition to this one hearing.

The defendant in the case is Joel Tenenbaum, who reportedly downloaded a handful of songs and is now being sued for almost $1 million in damages. According to Nesson’s Web site, Tenenbaum first tried to pay $500 instead of agreeing to the RIAA’s $3,500 settlement offer, but was denied. In court, he sought to pay a $5,000 settlement, but the RIAA wanted $10,500. He declined, and the case is set for trial in March. Nesson and his students have thrown their support behind Tenenbaum.

The RIAA said streaming the case could prejudice some jurors, but Gertner dismissed that argument as "specious," adding that the court system is capable of finding an unbiased jury.

Cameras are already installed in the courtroom and will stream to Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, which will cover all related costs. Viewers will be able to check it out for free on Thursday, January 22.