[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] in an opinion unsealed Friday that the US lacks enough evidence to justify the continued detention of Yemeni national Mohammed al-Adahi, granting al-Adahi's petition for habeas corpus [LLI materials]. The government argued that al-Adahi, who has been detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] since 2002, was a supporter or member of the Taliban and/or al-Qaeda, claiming that al-Adahi had acted as an instructor at al Qaeda camp al Farouq, had familial ties to both the Taliban and al Qaeda, had been employed as a bodyguard for Osama bin-Laden and that al-Adahi's story lacked credibility. In ordering al-Adahi's release Judge Gladys Kessler [official profile] of the stated:

There is no reliable evidence in the record that Petitioner was a trainer at Al Farouq, that he ever fought for al-Qaida and/or the Taliban, or that he affirmatively provided any actual support to al-Qaida and/or the Taliban. There is no reliable evidence in the record that Petitioner was a member of al-Qaida and/or the Taliban. While it is tempting to be swayed by the fact that Petitioner readily acknowledged having met Bin Laden on two occasions and admitted that perhaps his relatives were bodyguards and enthusiastic followers of Bin Laden, such evidence-sensational and compelling as it may appear--does not constitute actual, reliable evidence that would justify the Government's detention of this man.

[JURIST] Former UBS [corporate website] banker Bradley Birkenfeld was sentenced [press release] to 40 months in prison Friday for helping a client avoid paying over $7.2 million dollars in taxes. Birkenfeld admitted to helping a California real-estate developer hide $200 million to avoid paying taxes and has cooperated with the government in its investigation of employees of Swiss banks that the government says take advantage of Switzerland's strict confidentiality laws to help Americans hide money and avoid paying taxes. Birkenfeld, who was sentenced by Judge William Zloch in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida [official website], had hoped his cooperation would lead to a suspended sentence [SwissInfo report] while on Wednesday, prosecutors recommended [Miami Herald report] a 30-month sentence. The government may ask for a reduced sentence [Bloomberg report] as Birkenfeld continues to help the government in its investigation.

On Thursday, a Swiss lawyer and a Swiss banking executive were indicted [JURIST report] in the Southern District of Florida for allegedly helping clients hide assets. Earlier this week, the US government reached an agreement [JURIST report] with Switzerland that would grant the IRS access to information on thousands of Swiss bank accounts. As part of the agreement [text, PDF], the Swiss government will instruct banking giant UBS [corporate website] to begin to turn over information regarding certain anonymous bank accounts. In return, the US will cease unilateral efforts to seek account holder information, including withdrawing motions to enforce "John Doe" summons. In early May, the Obama administration announced revisions to the tax code [JURIST report] designed to curb overseas tax havens. One week earlier, the Swiss government filed an amicus curiae brief in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleging that the attempt to obtain account holder information by the US violated Swiss national sovereignty [JURIST report]. Earlier this year, the Swiss announced their intention to adopt a more stringent definition [JURIST report] of tax evasion and to work with other countries to investigate such claims.

[JURIST] The Communist Party of China (CPC) revoked the membership [press release] of the former vice-president of the Supreme People's Court on Friday, following a graft and corruption investigation. Huang Songyou, who was originally appointed to the Supreme People's Court in 2002, allegedly took bribes to influence cases and used the profits to live a "corrupt life" [Xinhua news report]. He was also fired [China Daily report] from his official position in the court, and his case has been turned over to prosecutors. Huang is just one in a line of communist leaders who have been thrown out of the party for corruption in a new campaign by the government [AFP report].

Huang was removed [JURIST report] from his position as vice president of the court in October by a vote of the legislators. He was noted for promoting judicial enforcement of constitutional rights, writing [text, PDF] in a 2001 opinion that the Supreme People's Court's had reached a milestone in ruling that citizens' basic constitutional rights should be protected. In 2004, Huang said changes to China's Criminal Procedure Law [JURIST report] were needed because China had adopted a human rights clause in its constitution.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Friday that Yahoo is not required to pay royalties for songs played over Internet radio. Several recording companies, all owned by Sony Corp, originally sued in 2001, claiming that Yahoo's online radio service, LAUNCHcast, was interactive, requiring the payment of royalty fees, because it allowed listeners to skip songs [NYT report]. The appeals court's decision upheld a 2007 lower court ruling in which a jury decided that skipping songs did not make the program interactive, finding:

In short, to the degree that LAUNCHcast's playlists are uniquely created for each user, that feature does not ensure predictability. Indeed, the unique nature of the playlist helps Launch ensure that it does not provide a service so specially created for the user that the user ceases to purchase music. LAUNCHcast listeners do not even enjoy the limited predictability that once graced the AM airwaves on weekends in America when "special requests" represented love-struck adolescents' attempts to communicate their feelings to "that special friend." Therefore, we cannot say LAUNCHcast falls within the scope of the DMCA's definition of an interactive service created for individual users.