Not that I believe the idea that defense lawyers are pro-murder in the first place, but sharing files and murder are hardly equivalent. Further, I don't think it makes sense to conflate criminal and civil law, and because it is civil, the burden of proof is lower. Sharing is natural and victimless, and while I guess there would be little (if any) debate over whether murder is wrong, I would guess there could be great debate over whether file sharing is wrong.
Everyone has potential biases, and there are practical biases for judges that are more significant than "took a paycheck from the RIAA", and we accept them routinely.
While it's true that there are many such biases, judges are required to excuse themselves whenever there's the appearance of impropriety.
The article discusses why, as a technical matter, this judge can choose to hear such cases, but the mere fact that we're discussing this or that there are news articles concerning it, creates an actual appearance of impropriety.
But we'll see how things go. It is possible, after all, that they're not so biased as they appear.
