DMCA, No First Amendment Protection for Online News

DMCA, No First Amendment Protection for Online News

KAHULUI, Hawaii, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by InternetMovies.com:

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that 'good faith' under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was subjective, not objective. Michael Rossi, President of InternetMovies.com Inc., sued the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), in April 2002 for the wrongful shut down of his web site in 2001. The United States District Court of Hawaii ruled in favor of the MPAA, in May 2003.

The MPAA claimed that, in 2001, InternetMovies.com had made available for illegal download the third installment of The Lord of the Rings, not finished until 2003. MPAA representatives confirmed, in a court deposition, that their "Ranger" program found that copyrighted films were available for illegal download from InternetMovies.com. The MPAA issued a cease and desist order to InternetMovies.com's Internet Service Provider to shut down the web site, citing that InternetMovies.com was in violation of the DMCA.

James H. Fosbinder, who represented Rossi, criticized the panel for failing to "even mention" the First Amendment and argued that if a similar standard were applied to print media, it would authorize a copyright owner to "shut down the New York Times on a mere suspicion." He further stated the "good faith" standard has been held, under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, under federal securities laws, and in other contexts, to include an obligation to make a reasonable investigation into the truth of an allegation before making it.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) had joined with the MPAA in filing amicus briefs on the case. In support of InternetMovies.com, a joint amicus brief was filed in favor of controlling the abuse of "good faith belief" from Internet Commerce Coalition (ICC), and NetCoalition.com. ICC members include AT&T, BellSouth, eBay, MCI, Verizon and others. NetCoalition members include Yahoo!, Lycos, Inktomi and others.

Rossi is requesting a rehearing and if that is denied will ask for a rehearing En banc. Fosbinder believes that if this is the interpretation to be given to the DCMA, it could violate the First Amendment and therefore be found unconstitutional. If rehearing is denied Rossi will seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court. InternetMovies.com is calling for membership support to continue the fight against further abuse of the DMCA "good faith" belief.


Source: InternetMovies.com Inc.

CONTACT: Michael Rossi, President of InternetMovies.com Inc.,
+1-808-283-2885

Web site: http://www.internetmovies.com/


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