A federal magistrate today dismissed with prejudice a disgraceful DMCA prosecution against three young Texas men who bought a lot of cell phones while looking Arab.
The three were rousted by local law enforcement in Michigan last month after they were spotted driving from Wal-Mart to Wal-Mart buying as many low-cost pre-paid cell phones as they could get their hands on. Tuscola County authorities arrested them as suspected terrorists and made a lot of noise.
Then when the case didn't pan out the feds stepped in with charges that the men conspired to violate the DMCA. "I think (law enforcement) dug themselves a hole and they tried to dig themselves out," defense attorney Nabih Ayad told me.
This is exactly what happenned in Georgia when a prosecutor brought a Tech student up on 4 felony charges for making dry ice noise makers because the local police told the press it was "terrorism."
I agree.
