Joel Tenebaum RIAA Trial Starts Today

(UPDATED) The much publicized Joel Tenebaum's trial with the RIAA begins today with a team from Harvard at his side. The defendant wrote an op ed piece in yesterday's Guardian newspaper where he shared the personal side of Joel vs. The Record Industry.

"To a certain extent, I'm afraid to write this. Though they've already seized my computer and copied my hard drive, I have no guarantee they won't do it again. For the past four years, they've been threatening me, making demands for trial, deposing my parents, sisters, friends, and myself twice – the first time for nine hours, the second for seven. I face up to $4.5m in fines and the last case like mine that went to trial had a jury verdict of $1.92m.

When I contemplate this, I have to remind myself what I'm being charged with. Investment fraud? Robbing a casino? A cyber-attack against the federal government? No. I shared music. And refused to cave." (more)

Opening arguments begin at 2PM today. The courts have refused to allow the trial to be boradcast on the net, but the Tenebaum team will be tweeting throughout the day and can be followed at: