MisSpelling Dictionary

High Court of Justice Declares Winner

Cited: Variety

London’s High Court of Justice heard the opening statements in the case of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation & ors v Newzbin Ltd. on February 2. Invite-only Newzbin is part of the huge and growing Usenet phenomenon, indexing posts made to Usenet and helping to download large collections of files in one swoop.

Hollywood started to target Usenet with a first round of lawsuits against Usenet-indexing sites all the way back in 2006 and was able to shut down a number of sites similar to Newzbin as well as receive at least one judgment for $15 million in damages. However, the recent court victory of a UK torrent site admin could help Newzbin in its defense.

Usenet was long considered an underground phenomenon, but downloading movies and TV shows from Usenet servers has become both fashionable and easy in recent years, thanks in part to indexing sites like Newzbin. Large files posted on Usenet are typically split up in dozens, if not hundreds, of segments. Usenet-indexing sites publish so-called .NZB files, which basically contain an index of all the segments needed to reassemble the original video file.

Sites like Newzbin don’t publish movies themselves, and users still need to obtain a Usenet account from a separate hosting provider to actually start downloading. One could compare a site like Newzbin to a torrent index like The Pirate Bay, even though there are some technical differences.

Those similarities and differences could play a big role in the court case that kicks off tomorrow. Newzbin’s owner has stated in the past that he considers his site to be perfectly legal because it doesn’t actually publish any copyrighted material. His lawyers will probably point to the recent court victory of Allan Ellis, former owner of the now-defunct BitTorrent site Oink, who was found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud the music industry just two weeks ago.

However, there’s an important difference between the two cases: Ellis won a criminal court case, whereas Newzbin has to defend itself in civil proceedings aimed at shutting the site down through an injunction. Hollywood has had more success with these kinds of cases in the past, if only in the U.S. Major studios were able to obtain a permanent injunction against a similar site called Binnews.com in 2007, which included awarded damages worth $15 million.

Hollywood has so far abstained from actually taking a Usenet hosting provider to court. The music industry sued newsgroup hoster Usenet.com in 2007 and won that case last summer. The site has since shut down.

On March 29 Hollywood studios got a winning victory from the High Court of Justice in London when it ruled that the website Newzbin Ltd. where users sought out links for pirated movies on its website.  The lawsuit was concerning liability for copyright infringement of movies that have not been released.

In his judgment, Justice David Kitchin wrote that Newzbin “engaged in a deliberate course of conduct well knowing that the vast majority of materials in the Movies category of Newsbiz are commercial and so likely to be protected by copyright and that the users of Newzbin who download those materials are infringing that copyright.” The precise terms of a court order are expected to be announced later this week, although Kitchin indicated that an injunction would extend only to protecting studio movies and not other potentially copyrighted material.

Newzbin had argued that it was a “passive” service, and that it was “merely acting as an intermediary in providing a link to sites” where studio films could be downloaded.

The six major studios in the suit were represented by the Motion Picture Association.  The association stated that the ruling was a significant implementation of European legislation of the UK for the reason that it showed Internet intermediaries “are increasingly being used by third parties to infringe copyright, and that such parties are in the best position to bring such illegal activities to an end.”

————————————————————–

My Take: I wonder if they are going to start charging the people who downloaded the movies.  That means some people might need a Dallas criminal defense attorney or even criminal attorneys if they do decide to prosecute.  Los Angeles Court reports just might increase with all the people that have downloaded pirate movies!  There are thousands of people that have downloaded movies and music from the Internet before was actually released.

Of course, a Los Angeles court reporter would not be able to reveal any information about any criminal action if it were taken against any movie pirates.  That is just like any Dallas DUI attorney or family attorney not being able to reveal information about his or her client.

————————————————————–

Other Resources

Terrorizing LA Street Gang Raided after Sheriff’s Deputy Killed

Cited:  AP

Notorious LA street gang members were accused of terrorizing a neighborhood for years as well as killing a sheriff’s deputy when targeted for a raid by hundreds of law enforcement officials on September 22.  A series of early-morning raids conducted by local police and federal agents were conducted to find key members of the Avenues street gang.  The gang claims a section of northeast Los Angeles as its “territory”.  This resulted in a massive federal racketeering indictment detailing criminal activities for more than decade of 90 suspects.

Officers in full body armor were seen at dawn, September 22, at a blocked-off staging area at the Dodger Stadium parking lot, where suspects were being processed at a portable booking area as media helicopters hovered overhead.  Scores of search warrants were served at 4 a.m. from Los Angeles to Kern County, and almost all suspects were in custody within three hours, said Los Angeles police Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz.

There is “ironclad evidence of the crimes,” Diaz said at the staging area.  “Our goal is to … move these people out, occupy this community and support the law-abiding people that deserve to live in dignity here.”

Aside from murdering rivals, dealing drugs, graffiti tagging and other crimes, the gang is accused of making threats and carrying out acts of violence against police officers, culminating in two attacks that rocked the law enforcement community last year.

The first of these, on Feb. 21, 2008, saw Avenues gang members open fire with handguns and an AK-47 on Los Angeles police officers. Police shot back, killing 20-year-old Daniel Leon, whose nickname was ‘Clever,’ and injuring another man.  Then on Aug. 2, 2008, off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Juan Escalante was shot dead in front of his parents’ home northeast of downtown.

Even before the killing, authorities were investigating the Avenues, but his death increased the urgency of the operation. Earlier this year, police charged three men in Escalante’s death and a fourth suspect remains at large.

The indictment details several possible motives for the murder. Carlos Velasquez, one of the men accused of killing the deputy, was heard in a wire-tapped telephone conversation telling another Avenues gang member that he killed Escalante in retribution for the death of Leon, nicknamed “Clever.”

“Clever took one with him,” the indictment states Velasquez said.

The 222-page indictment also alleges Avenues members posted inflammatory remarks on Web sites, including “Avenidas don’t get chased by the cops. We chase them,” and, “Avenidas don’t just hurt people. We kill them.”  Members of the largely Hispanic gang would also spray paint racist threats around neighborhoods to intimidate black people, according to prosecutors.

“This indictment attacks a criminal organization that has terrorized a community for generations,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Brunwin, the lead prosecutor in the case. “With all of the information collected over the past year, we assembled an indictment that led to dozens of arrests this morning and will make a significant difference in the neighborhoods in northeastern Los Angeles.”

The September 22 operation marks an ongoing focus on the Avenues gang, which gets its name from a series of streets running through the area.

In June 2008, another federal indictment took aim at the Drew Street clique of the gang. Prosecutors said Drew Street was the most active and violent clique within the Avenues and it produced significant drug-sale revenues for the Mexican Mafia, a prison-based gang that oversees much of Southern California’s street gang activity.

Several of the clique’s alleged leaders were arrested as a result of the investigation.  However, according to the indictment, the Mexican Mafia attempted to reorganize the Avenues’ control of northeast Los Angeles by stopping the rivalry within the gang and appointing new leaders.  The prison system is unable to prevent incarcerated Mexican Mafia leaders from communicating with street gangs on cell phones that are smuggled into the prisons or the passing of folded notes to visitors.

_____________________________________

My Take: The police will never get rid of street gangs as long as the community ignores the children who need family support.  The young men and women who join gangs do so because it gives them a sense of family and belonging.  It gives them people home they can trust and rely on.

Every city and community in the country and around the world will continue to have gangs until we can alleviate this ‘simple’ problem.  A Los Angeles court reporter can easily tell you what they have heard in trials involving gang members.  They are usually between the ages of 12 and 17 and they come from broken homes.  Those broken homes have drugs, alcohol and violence in them.  Right now, the SoCal court reporting system should have plenty of information on who came from a broken home and who did not.

Of course, it will not happen overnight or even the next year or two.  It will take years for people to realize that we cannot “not get involved” with those who live around us.  Getting involved can be dangerous, but it can also be very rewarding.  You could save somebody’s life!

______________________________________

Other Resources

Legal Help

One NYC construction accident law firm meticulously prepares every single case for trial.  There success in obtaining favorable settlements and verdicts for their clients is a direct result of that preparation.  Based on their success as trial attorneys, they have earned the respect of the legal community. Most of their clients are referred by other attorneys and past clients.  That means they have the best Bronx construction accident lawyer on their team.

Canadian Legal Services

Whether it is a criminal charge, or Ottawa traffic tickets, there are often more options than you may realize.  One lawyer has successfully defended hundreds of people in Ottawa, Toronto, and across the Province of Ontario and he will use his experience to work for you.  Sometimes things get out of hand and words are said or things are done in the heat of the moment. Having competent representation can keep you out of jail when you have committed Toronto provincial offences.

Patented Training Techniques

One dog training service has developed modern patented and copy written training techniques that helps them teach you how to communicate with your dog reliably. Understanding the domestic dog’s primary duty is to please its’ master. That means it is critical to establish a clear line of communication between you and your dog. With an established trainer and behavioral expert who have handled police training dogs, therapy dog training, seizure detection dogs and many other facets of dog training, you will be able to get your dog trained right the first time. You cannot do better than this Oklahoma dog training service.

Child Abduction

One of the select law firms in New Jersey, New York and throughout the United States that practices in this area of law and has significant experience in international child custody cases is waiting to help you get your child.  A child abduction attorney represents parents whose children have been unlawfully removed to Hague Convention nations and to those nations that are not parties to the treaty.  They also represent parents with lawful custody who wish to prevent the return of a child to another Hague Convention or non-signatory country.  Contact the Union County New Jersey family attorney as soon as possible.

Ottawa Criminal Lawyer for Assault

There are many different kinds of assault charges. If you have been charged with assault and in Ottawa, then you should consider hiring Ottawa criminal defence lawyers. An assault can be the result of a bar fight, or as the result of a domestic dispute. It can involve other offences such as uttering threats or death threats. A sexual assault (rape or other kinds of sexual assaults) can occur in many situations and sometimes the wrong person is or in other cases there are certain defences which exist for sexual assault that a criminal lawyer can explain.