Obama's Latest Pick for DOJ is RIAA Lawyer Who Killed Grokster and Sued Jammie Thomas
Today, Donald B. Verrilli was appointed to the position of associate deputy attorney general by President Obama. While he is definitely not a household name, Verrilli was the lawyer who represented the music industry in the Grokster case in the U.S. Supreme Court. This appointment by itself wouldn't necessarily stand out, but the Obama administration has now appointed a handful of pro-copyright industry insiders to prominent positions in the Department of Justice, including Tom Perrelli, who was one of the RIAA's top lawyers.
As CNet reports, Verrilli, while working as a senior litigator for the Washington law firm Jenner & Block, also represented the entertainment industry in Viacom's case against Google's YouTube, and he represented the RIAA in its infamous case against Jammie Thomas.
This appointment of Verrilli rounds out a Department of Justice that is now stocked with pro-copyright, RIAA/MPAA lawyers. Neil MacBride, for example, another new associate deputy attorney general, once led the BSA's nopiracy.com efforts, a program that tried to get employees to blow the whistle about the use of illegal software in their businesses.
DSLReports notes that Obama's own ethics rules would prohibit these appointees from directly working on copyright issues, as they previously represented the entertainment industry in these cases, but it is somewhat disconcerting that the Obama administration would pick so many industry insiders for these positions. We would have hoped that the administration had chosen a set of appointees with a more progressive attitude towards copyright.
CC-licensed images courtesy of flickr users MikeBlogs and jemsweb.
Share
Facebook
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
I see the phrase "pro-copyright" sprinkled throughout the article. Is RWW against all copyrights?
Posted by: Daniel J. Pritchett
|
February 5, 2009 1:00 PM
heh, not the ones at the bottom of our pages :) fair question.
Posted by: Marshall Kirkpatrick
|
February 5, 2009 1:00 PM
No big deal, Marshall. The end of the article mentions a preference for people with progressive views on copyrights, so I think it sorts itself out in the end. I have to admit I was confused at first though.
Posted by: Daniel J. Pritchett
|
February 5, 2009 1:06 PM
DSLReports notes that Obama's own ethics rules would prohibit these appointees from directly working on copyright issues, as they previously represented the entertainment industry in these cases, but it is somewhat disconcerting that the Obama administration would pick so many industry insiders for these positions.
Thanks
csscody.com
Lawyers have an obligation defend their clients based on the country's existing laws. This is true even if these laws are poorly written. Just because this lawyer participated in a case doesn't mean that he's against copyright reform. As with most people in the tech industry, I think copyright laws need a major overhaul. But I don't know if it's right to blame a lawyer for trying to uphold laws that the legislative branch wrote, but I hear what you're saying in that he might be a bit too close to the industry.
Could this be a step forward in Copyright and Patent laws being reestablished? I can we can only wish.
It's easy to knock "pro-copyright" individuals, but your stance on the issue changes depending on which side of the copyright you are on. Personally, I think the last sentence is the most appropriate.
- Jason
Yet another appointee with a bias. I thought he was going to pick qualified, fair people to these posts. I wonder if this guy paid his taxes-;) How many pirated movies & tunes does this guy have on his home PC? I guess we should look the other way yet again since this is a magic lawyer that will help the MPAA & RIAA sue unemployed single parents for what their kids download. Take three steps backward. Maybe we should offer TARP money to hollywood.
Michelle Obama's area of legal practice at Sidwell was...copyright law. Family legal connections, anyone?