Last week an appeals court overturned a ruling by a lower court that allowed Joel Tenenbaum and his attorneys to Webcast proceedings of the trial on his site, . Those of us longing to see the RIAA roasted over an open flame by a team of Harvard legal eagles are now unlikely to get their wish.

The appeals court on an interpretation of local court rules that say televising proceedings is fine in certain limited circumstances, but only those circumstances. IANAL, but it seems to me like you could interpret those rules in any way you happen to feel like at the moment.

Among other things, Tenenbaum's attorneys argued that Webcasting the trial is effectively no different than attending it in person, which is allowed. First District Court Judge Bruce Selya responded thusly:

While the new technology characteristic of the Information Age may call for the replotting of some boundaries, the venerable right of members of the public to attend federal court proceedings is far removed from an imagined entitlement to view court proceedings remotely on a computer screen.

And that's all he has to say on the matter. We'll just replot those boundaries later, after I'm retired, so I don't have to think about anything new.