Arista Records LLC et al v. Lime Wire LLC et al

Filing 356

DECLARATION of Zeeshan Zaidi in Opposition re: 234 MOTION for Permanent Injunction.. Document filed by Mark Gorton, Lime Group LLC, Lime Wire LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C)(Mundiya, Tariq)

Arista Records LLC et al v. Lime Wire LLC et al

Doc. 356

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ARIST A RECORDS LLC; ATLANTIC RECORDING CORPORATION; BMG MUSIC; CAPITOL RECORDS, INe.; ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INe.; INTERS COPE RECORDS; LAF ACE RECORDS LLC; MOTOWN) RECORD COMPANY, L.P.; PRIORITY RECORDS LLC; SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT; UMG RECORDINGS, INe.; VIRGIN RECORDS AMERICA, INe.; and) WARNER BROS. RECORDS INe., Plaintiffs,
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CaseNo. 06 CV 5936 (KMW) ECF Case DECLARATION OF ZEESHAN ZAIDI SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER FILED UNDER SEAL

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LIME WIRE LLC; LIME GROUP LLC; MARK GORTON; GREG BILDSON; and M.J.G. LIME WIRE FAMIL Y LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, Defendants.
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I, ZeeshanZaidi, the undersigned,hereby declare: 1. I am over twenty-one (21) years of age and am of sound mind. I have personal knowledge of the facts stated herein, I am competent to testify thereto, and if called to testify, I could and would testify to the following. 2. I am currently the Chief Operating Officer of Lime Wire LLC ("Lime Wire"). I have held this position since January 1,2010, and I joined Lime Wire in July 2009. 3. In this declaration, I will describe important uses of the LimeWire software that are separate and distinct from the copyright infringement issues the plaintiffs have raised in this lawsuit. 4. Different types of users download the LimeWire software for many purposes

unrelated to the plaintiffs' allegations in this lawsuit. One distinguishing characteristic of a peer to peer file sharing network, such as the Gnutella network that the LimeWire software connects to, is its distributed architecture. That architecture makes it very difficult for a central authority

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to censor or disrupt. The Internet, on the other hand, employs a different network architecture, which can more easily be centrally disrupted, controlled, or censored. This is why foreign governments are able to block certain American or Western web properties or intercept communications of their citizens. Many have chosen to do so. For example, the Iranian government has blocked its citizens' accessto sites such as YouTube, Wikipedia, and the New York Times, (see <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/dec/04/news.iran». In the leadup to the Iranian elections of 2009, it also blocked access to Facebook.
(see

<

http://mashable.com/2009/05/23/iran-blocks-facebook/>). or citizens of such countries, peer to F peer networks, and software products such as LimeWire that connect users to such networks, provide an attractive alternative to the Internet as a meansto communicate with one another and to access information and news sources. For example, one group of users seeks to use the Lime Wire software to assist Iranian dissidents in freely expressing political views through a meansthat the Iranian governmentmay not be able to censor or block. To that end, Lime Wire is currently engaged in a project to modify its software so that Iranian dissidents can use it to electronically sharenews and political viewpoints that their governmentcannot suppress. 5. In June 2009, as was widely reported in news outlets, Iranian pro-democracy

protestors who spoke out againstthe Iranian government in the aftermath of the elections were met with violence and censorship. Many of the dissidentsare technology-savvy, and sought to use alternative media platforms to share information about protest rallies, share user-created videos of streetprotests,and the like. As was widely reported,the Iranian governmenttook steps to block certain Internet sites in response. 6. Between June 25 and July 22, 2009, Lime Wire asked users of its software to disseminatevideos filmed by Iranian dissidents. Lime Wire posted some such videos directly on the home page of the Lime Wire software, and about 200,000 people "clicked" on the promotional materials Lime Wire posted to download the "clicked" video to their LimeWire

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software. True and correct copies of screen shots from Lime Wire's website showing these promotional materials are attachedas Exhibit A. 7. In the fall of 2009, Lime Wire translatedthe user interfaceof software into Persian(or "Farsi," the languageof Iran) for the first time. A true and correct sample of Persian-language Lime Wire material is attached as Exhibit B. Lime Wire made the Persian languageversion of the LimeWire software available for download from <www.limewire.com> on or about December 2009. This translation effort makes it easier for dissidents within Iran (and their Persian-speakingsupporters outside Iran) to use the LimeWire software for purposes of free political expression. As of June 15,2010, Lime Wire's recordsindicate that 4,196 unique users have usedLime Wire software in Persian. 8. Soon afterwards, in December2009, an Oxford University doctoral student who helps organize the Iranian protest movement from outside Iran, Mahmood Enayat, contactedme. Mr. Enayat requested hat Lime Wire modify the LimeWire software so that protestors and dissidents t inside and outside Iran could more easily share materials with each other in a manner their government would find more difficult to interrupt than other Internet communications. Mr. Enayat recently published an article on the role of the Internet, and "peer to peer file sharing" such as the LimeWire software, in Iranian society. A true and correct copy of this article is attachedhereto as Exhibit C. 9. Another possibility for the LimeWire software is that those assisting the Iranian government overseascan sharenews content into this network of dissidents,so that it can more easily be disseminatedwithin Iran. I understandthat Mr. Enayat has entered into discussions with the BBC (where Mr. Enayat is currently employed while studying at Oxford) as a possible source of suchnews content, as describedin Exhibit C. 10. At this time, Lime Wire is working to implement the requirements for this project into its software and expects to be done in 12 to 18 months if Lime Wire is able to continue to operatewith its current baseof employeesand infrastructure resources.

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I HEREBY DECLARE and certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct, and that this Declaration was executed this l~~day of June 2010 in New York, New York.

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