Davis had instructed (.pdf) the jury last year that the recording industry did not have to prove anybody downloaded the songs from Thomas' open Kazaa share folder. Davis read Jury Instruction No. 15 to jurors saying they could find unauthorized distribution -- copyright infringement -- if Thomas was "making copyrighted sound recordings available" over a peer-to-peer network "regardless of whether actual distribution has been shown."

But Davis had second thoughts and, without any urging from the litigants in the case, summoned the parties back to his courtroom in August, writing in a brief order that he may have committed a "manifest error of the law." He heard arguments from both sides and said he would issue a ruling soon.

With Wednesday's opinion, Davis made his revised position official and ordered a retrial -- one with different jury instructions.

said by TKJunkMail :

Reversing himself without any prompting from either participant in the case is almost by definition an example of judicial activism.

said by TKJunkMail :

Reversing himself without any prompting from either participant in the case is almost by definition an example of judicial activism.

said by cjski :

Dude! Let go of the right-wing talking point...the judge did the right thing.

said by Jovi :

How is his position right wing? I am a right winger and I totally disagree with him.

said by kamm :

He's not a right-wing person, I agree - he's an ultra-right-wing corporate extremist

said by james :

Yeah, or he could be someone with a different opinion than you have.

It's amazing how afraid we are of questioning our own beliefs, as if someone who disagrees with us will somehow make us wrong.

said by kamm :

It's amazing when someone with obviously little or zero clue about his track record jumps in and starts posting empty cliches confidently... how about reading up a little bit?

said by Jovi :

I am a right winger and I totally disagree with him.

said by Jovi :

How is his position right wing? I am a right winger and I totally disagree with him.

said by TKJunkMail :

Reversing himself without any prompting from either participant in the case is almost by definition an example of judicial activism.

said by TKJunkMail :

Reversing himself without any prompting from either participant in the case is almost by definition an example of judicial activism.

said by TKJunkMail :

Reversing himself without any prompting from either participant in the case is almost by definition an example of judicial activism.

said by TKJunkMail :

Reversing himself without any prompting from either participant in the case is almost by definition an example of judicial activism.

said by TKJunkMail :

Reversing himself without any prompting from either participant in the case is almost by definition an example of judicial activism.

any time a Judge does something he agrees with, it's a good call. Go against that belief, and it's judicial activism.

seeing how higher courts gave a dissent to his ruling.

said by funchords :

I admire him for saying, "hey, looks like I was wrong" here. Too many people try to deflect responsibility. Ignoring it and waiting for an appeal would have been the easiest thing to do. He made the harder choice.

said by jc100 :

You sound like amigo and pnh. ... Pnh hasn't started his own redundant word.

said by jc100 :

One can imagine. It takes a lot of effort to concoct "proof" that neither exists or proves anything. That's a full time job in itself. Yet, notwithstanding, you pull it off.

said by Matt :

Wow Tk, you are getting beat up pretty bad. I hope you have thick skin man.

said by TKJunkMail :

I consider the source and just shake my head. It is just the "Peanut Gallery" spewing their usual flames because they are incapable of discourse without resulting to insults. It is a really bad reflection on the state of our education system when what they post is the height of their debating skills.

said by digitalfreak :

Hey now! TK is never wrong, just misunderstood.

said by TKJunkMail :

I consider the source and just shake my head. It is just the "Peanut Gallery" spewing their usual flames because they are incapable of discourse without resulting to insults. It is a really bad reflection on the state of our education system when what they post is the height of their debating skills.

said by TKJunkMail :

Reversing himself without any prompting from either participant in the case is almost by definition an example of judicial activism.

said by major marco :

And if said trial was not declared a mistrial because the prosecution failed to prove infringement, you'd be commenting what an outstanding job the court did and how justice was served.

said by TKJunkMail :

I guess you took that Mind Reading 101 course in college.