{"id":2704,"date":"2014-04-01T12:36:12","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T12:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncjolt.org\/?p=2704"},"modified":"2020-06-04T20:53:43","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T20:53:43","slug":"permitted-third-party-distributors-turned-criminal-infringers-applanet-defendant-plays-hardball-with-the-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/blogs\/permitted-third-party-distributors-turned-criminal-infringers-applanet-defendant-plays-hardball-with-the-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Permitted Third Party Distributors Turned Criminal Infringers?: Applanet Defendant Plays Hardball with the Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

Appbucket, Applanet, and related services, until taken down by the FBI, were alleged to be \u201cthird part[y] . . . websites for the distribution of Android apps<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 This was also considered by the Appbucket\u2019s operator\u2019s defense to be in good faith, considering that Google permitted such distribution, whereas Apple does not (Apple runs the only store for its apps).\u00a0 Regardless, federal prosecutors proceeded with a criminal case against the alleged infringers, exceeding the option of a civil suit for damages.\u00a0 According to the government, \u201csuch prosecutions are needed to protect legitimate app developers.\u201d
\nInterestingly, the legal team for the 19-year-old man who started Applanet, Aaron Buckley, is trying to play offensive hardball<\/a> against the government\u2019s prosecution of their client.\u00a0 Attorney Rain Minns has been joined in the case by Antonio Ponvert III, a civil rights lawyer who is interested in exploring the civil rights and First Amendment implications of the government\u2019s conduct.\u00a0 In an interview, Minns explained that \u201cAntonio\u2019s task is to take the offense in Aaron\u2019s case, focusing on the government\u2019s violation of state and federal civil rights laws, the First Amendment free speech implications of the government\u2019s tactics, and the substantial reputational and financial harm that the D.O.J. has inflicted[.]\u201d
\nThere is no doubt that Buckley is a clever young man, and there is a bit of irony in how his story started\u2014he won the money that he used to fund his website through a 2009 Android app idea contest<\/a>, in which he proposed texting-while-walking protection using a camera view that lets texters know what is around them.\u00a0 However, if the government can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Buckley was a person \u201cwho infringe[d] a copyright willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain,\u201d then the government will be able to punish Buckley under 18 U.S.C. 2319\u2014criminal copyright infringement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are two compelling questions here: first, was the government right in addressing its grievance through criminal charges, and second, is Buckley\u2019s legal team coming at this case from the right angle?\u00a0 <\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are two compelling questions here: first, was the government right in addressing its grievance through criminal charges, and second, is Buckley\u2019s legal team coming at this case from the right angle?\u00a0 The government could have pursued civil remedies in the form of monetary restitution, for instance, though it is also entitled to pursue criminal charges if there is probable cause that each statutory element of the crimes charged is met.\u00a0 In fact, the government is correct in stating that it has an incentive to protect the interests of copyright holders.\u00a0 Part of what is interesting about this case is that Google could have protected itself by not authorizing third party vendors and rigidly safeguarding its licenses, a la Apple.\u00a0 In the matter of Buckley\u2019s legal team\u2019s strategy, if the elements of the charged crimes can be met, I predict that the defense will have a hard time scaring the U.S. Department of Justice with threatened civil rights actions.\u00a0 In such a scenario, it is very likely that a judge or jury would see this case as a simple matter of charging a criminal violation appropriately, and that to see it otherwise would be to see criminal charges as per se civil rights violations for almost any defendant.\u00a0 Either way, cases like Buckley\u2019s are a real shame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Appbucket, Applanet, and related services, until taken down by the FBI, were alleged to be \u201cthird part[y] . . . websites for the distribution of Android apps.\u201d\u00a0 This was also considered by the Appbucket\u2019s operator\u2019s defense to be in good faith, considering that Google permitted such distribution, whereas Apple does not (Apple runs the only …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2704"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7476,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2704\/revisions\/7476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}