• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, April 16, 2009

It looks like the record industry's lawsuit against alleged file-sharer Joel Tenenbaum won't be Webcast after all. Today, a federal appellate court overturned federal district court judge Nancy Gertner's groundbreaking order authorizing the Webcast.

A three-judge panel of the appellate court decided that Gertner lacked authority to authorize an Internet broadcast because local rules prohibit televising proceedings. Those rules don't specifically refer to Webcasts, but the court ruled that the ban on TV cameras should be extended to the Web. "Both at the time when the policy was promulgated and at the time when the resolution was adopted, Internet webcasting had not attained the ubiquity that currently prevails," the panel wrote.

While the three judges were unanimous that the Webcast shouldn't take place, one member of the panel wrote a separate opinion urging that the rules be changed.

"In my view, there are no sound policy reasons to prohibit the webcasting authorized by the district court," Kermit Victor Lipez wrote. "Therefore, this case calls into question the continued relevance and vitality of a rule that requires such a disagreeable outcome."

Gertner initially authorized the Webcast late last year. The record industry objected, arguing that an Internet broadcast could prejudice it with the public. Among other reasons, the organization asserted that users might edit clips of court proceedings so as to distort the group's positions.

The controversy drew the attention of digital rights groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that a Webcast would enable public access to the courts.