Blindspot: Fred Goldman Sues The Pirate Bay

On Thursday, in a Los Angeles County Superior Court, Fred Goldman sued The Pirate Bay for making If I Did It available for free on its website.

Yes, that Fred Goldman. Yes, that Pirate Bay.

Fred, Fred, Fred. Not only does a California court not have this kind of jurisdiction, but The Pirate Bay isn't new to the game. Listen. Listen closely, now. Can't you hear those Swedes snickering over there, I know I can.

For our reading enjoyment, The Pirate Bay routinely posts its responses to these sorts of actions, taking obvious great pleasure in replying to the likes of Apple, Microsoft, DreamWorks, SEGA, Warner Brothers, etc. They are particularly fond of referencing "retractable batons" ....

You've filed a lawsuit that you can't win, Fred, and you've not only given TPB free advertising thru the media coverage of your lawsuit (they've got free books online, too!) but you've made your critics aware that your profits from the book include advertising dollars in the hundreds of thousands.

Fred, Fred, Fred.

Prediction: The Paparazzi Push-Back 2

Earlier this month, I predicted that celebrities would start pushing back against paparazzis themselves.

I used the recent activities of Britney Spears as an example (driving over paparazzi if they refuse to get out of her way, etc.) as well as Nicole Kidman's recent trial testimony on how terrifying the paparazzi can be.

Today, I read that Julia Roberts is pushing back at the paparazzi -- and it's caught on video (see it here).

Seems paparazzi were filming Julia at a school in Los Angeles (presumably, her kids' school, but I don't have confirmation of that). Seeing this, Julia follows them in her Mercedes SUV, honking the horn and waving until they pull over. Then she gets out, and confronts the paparazzi (quoting Breitbart.Com) as they are videotaping her:

"Turn it [the video camera] off," Roberts tells the photographers. "I want to talk to you about the fact that you're at a school where children go. Turn it off."

My prediction: it's one thing when Britney Spears starts to push back, it's another when it's Julia Roberts. Having Julia Roberts do this will, I predict, empower other celebrities to confront the paparazzi, as well.

I also predict that these confrontations are going to get nasty, and physical, as tensions mount. I believe someone is going to get hurt, maybe seriously hurt, in LA before anything is done to deal with these guys.

And, I predict that this victim is going to be a celebrity and it will only be after this tragic circumstance that something will be done about the paparazzi. Princess Di wasn't enough -- she was an icon, and she was across the waters. It's going to be someone close to home, doing something like Julia - protecting kids - who gets really hurt.

And, we'll know about it because the paparazzi will sell that story and those photos, too.

Here We Go Again: OJ 2

OJ Simpson has pled not guilty to all the Vegas charges, and the trial has been scheduled for April.

Right now, OJ is set to defend himself alongside two co-defendants, Clarence Stewart and Charles Ehrlich, on 12 counts of conspiracy, kidnapping, robbery, and burglary. Wonder if they'll be going for separate trials sometime soon?

Meanwhile, the Vegas oddsmakers are already at work, here's what I saw at the time of this posting over at Gambling911.com:

O.J. Simpson Trial Props - OJ is found Guilty of Kidnapping: 3/1
OJ is found Guilty of Armed Robbery: 5/1
OJ is found Not Guilty on all Charges: 2/3
OJ flees the US: 25/1
OJ falls asleep in the court during trial: 10/1
The trial to end in a mistrial: 5/1
OJ arrives at court in a white bronco: 10/1.

Gotta love that last one ... made me laugh and laugh....

The Peterson Murder Case - No, The Other One: Stupid Man Talking

I admit to following the Laci Peterson story as it happened, and I still remember my jaw dropping when I saw Scott Peterson with his beard and dyed blonde hair, denying he was running from anything ... but another missing Peterson wife? Another Peterson husband giving press conferences, pleading for the return of his wife?

Yep. Guess I'm a little late in the game, since it's already in People magazine. (Read Drew Peterson's interview here if you have a subscription to enter the People site.)

Today, the FBI joined in the search for Stacy Peterson. Stacy, Drew Peterson's 4th wife, has been missing for around 1 month and is presumed dead.

Interesting facts:

Drew Peterson is an Illinois police officer. (He resigned after Stacy disappeared.)

A former fiancee has said that after she broke off their engagement, Peterson gave her traffic tickets after then arrested her for not paying the fines.

His second wife has said that Peterson told her that he could kill her and make it look like an accident.

His third wife died, and her body has been exhumed - she died in 2004, in a death ruled an accidental drowning even though the bathtub allegedly had no water in it.

The last time that Stacy Peterson's family reportedly saw her was late in the evening on October 27th (around 11:30 p.m.).

Drew Peterson says that he last saw Stacy around 12 hours later, in the morning of October 28th.

Stacy's cell phone was last used on October 28th, at 9 p.m.

The search has expanded to using sonar technology that helps find bodies in water.

Drew Peterson has labeled himself a "media sensation," and in addition to the 5-page cover story in People, he's appeared on NBC's Today show, twice, and ABC's Good Morning America, as well as on Greta Van Susteran's show and Geraldo Rivera's ....

And, in all this media play, Drew Peterson is busy proclaiming his innocence and talking about possible scenarios to explain Stacy's disappearance. She ran off with another man. She just ran off. You get the idea.

As a lawyer, I shake my head. If there's anything Mr. DREW Peterson should remember, it is how Mr. SCOTT Peterson's taped statements were used against him by prosecutors.

And, as a lawyer, I'd like to point out that the only concrete evidence against Scott Peterson was that he cheated on his wife. There was no direct evidence that Scott Peterson murdered Lacy, and he got the death penalty. (Not that I don't think that Scott killed Lacy, I'm just talking direct evidence here.)

Drew Peterson is being very, very stupid, from a lawyer's perspective. This stuff is going to get used against him, later. Of course, the prosecutors must be loving it.

Hollywood Sues Chinese Company For Pirated Films

Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney, Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Universal Studios have just sued a Chinese internet cafe and online service, Jaboo.com, for over $400K for offering pirated downloads of movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Jaboo.com purportedly created software for the cafe that gave customers the ability to download the Hollywood movies. Then, the cafe offered the movies to folk interested in viewing films like "Pirates," "Hitch," and "Click."

I wonder ...

Has Jaboo contacted the folks over at The Pirate Bay yet? Shouldn't the same jurisdictional arguments advanced by Swedish The Pirate Bay apply equally as well to Chinese Jaboo?

Seems like they should, and I'd like to know if Chinese law is allowing a suit that Swedish law will not.

Are these Hollywood BigWigs going to use their new outsourcing lawyers over in India to handle things?

SDD offers litigation support .... Why wouldn't they -- they're already using them for transactional work.