Wednesday, January 7, 2009
President Elect Appoints RIAA's Favorite Lawyer For Department Of Justice Position
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "Pocket PC News" @ 07:00 AM
"As president-elect, one of Obama's first tech-related decisions has been to select the Recording Industry Association of America's favorite lawyer [Tom Perrelli] to be the third in command at the Justice Department. And Obama's pick as deputy attorney general, the second most senior position, is the lawyer who oversaw the defense of the Copyright Term Extension Act--the same law that Lessig and his allies unsuccessfully sued to overturn."
This is one presidential appointment that is sure to affect many music and video lovers, directly or indirectly. This is the guy that tried to get Verizon to release names of purported file sharers to the RIAA without a judge reviewing the evidence first. It was the old "guilty until you are bankrupt from legal fees" ploy. You can read about more of his shenanigans at the article. Here is hoping that the Perrelli meets severe challenges by the confirmation process and backs out or is rejected.