New York attorney Ray Beckerman, an outspoken critic of the Recording Industry Association of America, has acquired the ear of thousands of federal judges nationwide.

The American Bar Association's "Judge's Journal" summer issue is publishing his lengthy paper, Large Recording Companies v. The Defenseless (.pdf). The publisher of the blog, Recording Industry vs The People, does an excellent job of explaining the finer legal points of the RIAA's litigation machine.

Beckerman, who defends people sued by the RIAA, chronicles RIAA litigation start to finish – from the investigative stage, to how the RIAA acquires the name of the ISP account holder to the payment of a few thousand dollars that usually settles a lawsuit out of court.

The bulk of the article deals in highly legal matters concerning venue, jurisdiction, dismissal, discovery, confidentiality, legal fees and default judgments. It's a must read for anybody who has ever been on a file sharing networks like Kazaa, and a must read about an area of litigation that has ensnared more than 20,000 defendants.

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