Harvard prof in R.I. to block RIAA access to BU kid’s PC
January 6, 2009
By Mass High Tech staff
Harvard University law professor Charles Nesson and his team of law students
are hitting the Rhode Island federal court today to defend Boston University graduate
student Joel Tenenbaum, and his parents, in a lawsuit brought against him by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The RIAA has filed a $1 million
lawsuit against Tenenbaum over seven songs the student allegedly downloaded from
the Kazaa file-sharing network in 2004.
Nesson was not allowed to legally represent 24-year-old Tenenbaum in a Rhode Island
court in December. He has since secured a Rhode Island lawyer while his and the
group’s pro hac vice motion filing, which would grant them exception to represent
outside the jurisdiction, awaits approval.
Today’s hearing covers a subpoena for Tenenbaum’s parents, Arthur and Judi Tenenbaum,
to turn over a home computer for imaging purposes to detect copyright infringement.
According to a press release from the Harvard legal team, this computer did not
exist in the Tenenbaum household at the time of the alleged Kazaa file downloads.
Copyright 2009