New York, NY (November 21, 2007) – In light of the RIAA stepping up it’s efforts to prosecute those sharing digital music files illegally, the Free Software Foundation is attempting to do it’s part to help.

The FSF announced on Monday that they would be creating an Expert Witness Defense Fund in direct response to the RIAA’s use of expert witnesses in cases brought against illegal music downloading and file-sharing, ala the Jammie Thomas decision.  Following the $222,000 award levied against her (on behalf of Capitol Records), there has been a public outcry of unfairness and a motion from Thomas that the punishment was excessive.  From the fan’s perspective, much ado was made that she didn’t have the kind of expertise on her side that might have helped her in court.

The defense fund will be advised by Rey Beckerman, an NYC lawyer and author of the blog Recording Industry vs. The People, along with several other lawyers, all of who share the opinion that the RIAA are bullies. He established the site “to collect and share information about the wave of sham ‘copyright infringement’ lawsuits brought by the four large record companies to abuse the American judicial system, distort copyright law, and frighten ordinary working people and their children.”

Money in the fund, he says, will be used “to pay fees and/or expenses of technical expert witnesses, forensic examiners, and other technical consultants assisting individuals named as defendants in non-commercial, peer-to-peer file sharing cases brought by the RIAA, EMI, SONY BMG, Vivendi Universal, and Warner Bros. Records, and their affiliated companies, such as Interscope, Arista, UMG, Fonovisa, Motown, Atlantic, Priority, and others.”  Beckerman fully explains how the fund will work on his blog here.

While Beckerman implores you to donate to the fund, it’s clear that some folks don’t share his same sentiment of contempt for the RIAA.  Here’s an excerpt from a lively conversation over at P2Pnet.net (the writer is responding to another reader, Aaron):

…”Aaron said “It all comes down to the question, whose side are you on?”

How about the law? Is that a good place to start? Infringers are not being run over by a multi-million dollar industry Aaron, it’s the courts and our legal system. We are not in a “revolution” and you’ve been reading too much Marie Antoinette French history. The recording Industry works like every other industry and their business model is legal whether you like it or not. I’m on the side of the ARTISTS and it would be nice if you were too. But instead you offer your cash to an organization sworn to defend infringers and refer to “messy revolutions” with “innocent casualties” as if they were regrettable collateral damage. This is business you idiot, stealing is not business and war has nothing to do with this. We are families with lives and we just want to be paid like everybody else. “That’s just the nature of war.” You sound like fucking Rumsfeld.”

The comments, questions and rebuttals are long, but well-worth the read.  Very insightful and intelligent devils-advocate commentary from both sides.  Also, read through to see some of the ideas Congress is working on to help stem the flow of piracy in the music industry.  The entire argument is intriguing and only adds more fuel to the fire about why record labels will always exist and how necessary it is to find a business model that works for everyone in the digital age.

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