Day 134: Suggestions or Statutes? The DOJ’s Broken Rules
- mainemoviepirate
- May 6
- 4 min read
Actual Entry - 11/03/21 - WED -
Set my alarm. A.K. is leaving today. Always glad to see someone leave here. But in this case, I'm not the only one. I've yet to meet someone so universally hated in here. Yes, he was annoying at times, but less so once I got to know him. To me, he was a great exercise in tolerance, plus I don't think he was a bad guy. Low self esteem, but plenty of that here. This place breeds it. Anyway very interesting times. C.C. is still giving a hard time about A.K., sigh. Should die down soon, hopefully. The fact E.D. and P.O. also "[crossed out word] tracted" or were offenders [crossed out word] as well, helps but not much. Anyway, I'm happy he's going home [inserted above crossed out word], just like I would be for anyone leaving here. No one, none [inserted above crossed out word] here, that I know about deserves this place for 5 minutes, let alone 5 months, 5 years or longer. The system is broken and nothing I've seen convinces me otherwise. Wow this might be a two page day. Haven't done that for awhile. My writing output should increase now. In theory.
I'm still curious what Steve's reaction to the letter will be, if he blows it off.... means two things: 1) I need a new lawyer 2) He's in on it or at the very least complacent to the possibility of it. Both bad things and will require some definite course changes for me. FAST AND DRASTIC.
I've realized something about the Juvvie thing was the only way they could go, because it's no longer an on-going investigation; it ended 10-2019. Hmmm.... plot thickens.
LUNCH: The ever popular Turkey Burger, (1 in reserve / Dog fund) Roll, FF.
Did a little work on BarBell, not much else. This MSP response has really rocked my plan, but it shouldn't stay focused on the beating of the copyright charges and wait to see / learn more on the FOIA, you can send the remaining ones if you want. DHS/FBI/Maine AG. Send those last 3 and see how it all shakes out.
WORK ON Appeal stuff, comp r. and fiction.
SUPPER: Pizza, carrots, salad. (Some crust in the bird fund)
Another meh day, perhaps tomorrow will be better, I'm not sure. This MSP thing is huge, why didn't I do it sooner. Now it's going to come in drips and dabs, or not at all. Got to learn the system. If nothing from Steve, by next friday, I'll call him and say WTF. You'd think he would be salivating if he's even reading it.
This literally the first glimmer of good news for 10 years. It sucks being in here with no way to push it. Not saying I would in it's current wording. This is almost like torture. Hopefully something new 2morrow.
Read a lot of State of Fear by M. Crichton. It's pretty good. Keeps me there.
I wonder how much would the prosecutor's manual say about this case. How much are they supposed follow it or by law, if any, how much are they required to follow it.
I don't know if it still says it, but there was a line that said, paraphrasing, "Cases should only be brought that cannot be settled civilly."
Actual quote * (SEE Four Years Later Notes below)
[Bottom of page]
You're in my Seat: I heard it is was Wanted... again. Just watched 15 minutes of that last week, couldn't take the movie Kitchen tonight. Just Read.
Four Years Later -
Obviously, the MSP FOIA response was still heavy on my mind. But the real kick in the gut would turn out to be my attorney Steve’s response to it. I even sent him a letter laying it all out, but we’ll talk about that when we get to that entry in the actual journal.
The other big realization was remembering a section I had read in the DOJ Copyright Prosecutor’s Manual. I think I read it before my trial, but whenever I brought it up, Steve would just brush it off. Looking back now and taking the entire case as a whole, the government definitely violated their own rules with my prosecution—unless, of course, they treat those rules more like “suggestions.” Here is what I found recently:
The exact quotes from the Justice Manual (Title 9, Criminal Resource Manual Section 1841: Copyright Law — Prosecution Policy):
On Unsettled Law and Civil Liability:
"The drafting committee did not intend to establish criminal liability '[i]n cases where civil liability is unclear—whether because the law is unsettled, or because a legitimate business dispute exists.' Neither do we."
On Litigating Novel Issues:
"It is not the intent of the Criminal Division to advocate that prosecutors litigate novel issues of civil copyright infringement for purposes of obtaining criminal convictions."
On Ordinary Disputes:
"The mens rea requirement serves to leave outside the reach of the criminal law losing parties in ordinary business disputes such as those involving reverse engineering of computer programs or contract disputes over the scope of licenses."
These lines perfectly capture the policy the prosecution seemingly ignored when dealing with the murky, unsettled nature of Orphan Works in my case. I realize this is too little, too late to change my conviction, but publishing this now serves as a necessary cautionary tale: even if the U.S. government does wrong, if no one points it out, it just becomes business as usual.
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