Friday, June 19, 2009

Thomas testimony ends with tears, anger, Swedish death metal; Ars Technica, 6/17/09

Nate Anderson via Ars Technica; Thomas testimony ends with tears, anger, Swedish death metal:

"The Jammie Thomas-Rasset file-sharing retrial wrapped up today ahead of schedule after the defense called only a single witness—Jammie Thomas-Rasset—and the jury finally heard some alternative scenarios for the facts in the case.

The jury was also treated to an extraordinary display as Thomas-Rasset said that a distinguished computer science professor was brought in to give "false testimony" against her (there were gasps in the courtroom and an immediate objection from the record companies at this), then broke down crying, detailed the "complete nightmare" the case has made of her life, and claimed that the labels initially "tried to extort $5,000 from me."

Her testimony, which also featured such memorable phrases as "I never downloaded Morbid Angel's 'World of Shit'" and "I didn't even know there was a Swedish death metal genre," was certainly spellbinding. But did it sway the jury?"

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/thomas-testimony-ends-with-tears-anger-swedish-death-metal.ars

No comments: