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RIAA sues... a 12 year old girl.
Tyco
RangerTexas
in Zocalo v2.0
[URL]http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96797,00.html[/URL]
Tuesday , September 09, 2003
NEW YORK — The music industry has turned its big legal guns on Internet music-swappers — including a 12-year-old New York City girl who thought downloading songs was fun.
Brianna LaHara said she was frightened to learn she was among the hundreds of people sued yesterday by giant music companies in federal courts around the country.
"I got really scared. My stomach is all turning," Brianna said last night at the city Housing Authority apartment where she lives with her mom and her 9-year-old brother.
"I thought it was OK to download music because my mom paid a service fee for it. Out of all people, why did they pick me?"
The Recording Industry Association of America (search) — a music-industry lobbying group behind the lawsuits — couldn't answer that question.
"We are taking each individual on a case-by-case basis," said RIAA spokeswoman Amy Weiss.
Asked if the association knew Brianna was 12 when it decided to sue her, Weiss answered, "We don't have any personal information on any of the individuals."
Brianna's mom, Sylvia Torres, said the lawsuit was "a total shock."
"My daughter was on the verge of tears when she found out about this," Torres said.
The family signed up for the Kazaa (search) music-swapping service three months ago, and paid a $29.99 service charge.
Usually, they listen to songs without recording them. "There's a lot of music there, but we just listen to it and let it go," Torres said.
When reporters visited the apartment last night, Brianna — who her mom says is an honors student — was helping her brother with his homework.
Brianna was among 261 people sued for copying thousands of songs via popular Internet file-sharing software — and thousands more suits could be on the way.
"Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation," said Cary Sherman, the RIAA's president. "But when your product is being regularly stolen, there comes a time when you have to take appropriate action."
At the same time, the RIAA offered amnesty to file-swappers who come forward and agree to stop illegally downloading music over the Internet.
People who already have been sued are not eligible for amnesty.
Brianna and the others sued yesterday under federal copyright law could face penalties of up to $150,000 per song, but the RIAA has already settled some cases for as little as $3,000.
"It's not like we were doing anything illegal," said Torres. "This is a 12-year-old girl, for crying out loud."
Tuesday , September 09, 2003
NEW YORK — The music industry has turned its big legal guns on Internet music-swappers — including a 12-year-old New York City girl who thought downloading songs was fun.
Brianna LaHara said she was frightened to learn she was among the hundreds of people sued yesterday by giant music companies in federal courts around the country.
"I got really scared. My stomach is all turning," Brianna said last night at the city Housing Authority apartment where she lives with her mom and her 9-year-old brother.
"I thought it was OK to download music because my mom paid a service fee for it. Out of all people, why did they pick me?"
The Recording Industry Association of America (search) — a music-industry lobbying group behind the lawsuits — couldn't answer that question.
"We are taking each individual on a case-by-case basis," said RIAA spokeswoman Amy Weiss.
Asked if the association knew Brianna was 12 when it decided to sue her, Weiss answered, "We don't have any personal information on any of the individuals."
Brianna's mom, Sylvia Torres, said the lawsuit was "a total shock."
"My daughter was on the verge of tears when she found out about this," Torres said.
The family signed up for the Kazaa (search) music-swapping service three months ago, and paid a $29.99 service charge.
Usually, they listen to songs without recording them. "There's a lot of music there, but we just listen to it and let it go," Torres said.
When reporters visited the apartment last night, Brianna — who her mom says is an honors student — was helping her brother with his homework.
Brianna was among 261 people sued for copying thousands of songs via popular Internet file-sharing software — and thousands more suits could be on the way.
"Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation," said Cary Sherman, the RIAA's president. "But when your product is being regularly stolen, there comes a time when you have to take appropriate action."
At the same time, the RIAA offered amnesty to file-swappers who come forward and agree to stop illegally downloading music over the Internet.
People who already have been sued are not eligible for amnesty.
Brianna and the others sued yesterday under federal copyright law could face penalties of up to $150,000 per song, but the RIAA has already settled some cases for as little as $3,000.
"It's not like we were doing anything illegal," said Torres. "This is a 12-year-old girl, for crying out loud."
Comments
[URL=http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=501&u=/ap/20030909/ap_on_en_mu/downloading_music_11&printer=1]http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=501&u=/ap/20030909/ap_on_en_mu/downloading_music_11&printer=1[/URL]
Brianna added: "I am sorry for what I have done. I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love." [/quote]
I wonder who wrote the statement for them? :rolleyes:
Yes, because many music artists also live on housing estates and are raised by a single parent...
The girl in question, Brianna, clearly didn't write this as Freejack suggests, and it's really quite sickening to read.
Jesus, I absolutely DESPISE this culture of lawsuits and compensation we keep hearing about, and it's not just evident in the US. I'm as big a supporter of free-market capitalism as the next man, but this is just downright tyrannical. :mad:
Regards,
Morden
[B]When I first read about that lawsuit I thought it was from some site like the onion or something because there wasn't a proper link to the source in it. :) [/B][/QUOTE]
LOL! The Onion is pure genius! Who can forget God coming out to renounce religious fundementalism, or the story of a Hamster injured in a remote-control monster truck accident?
Regards,
Morden
That just makes me sick...a lobbying group for corperations worth billions...taking money from people that can't even afford housing!!!!!!
Thank "god" I live in canada.
[B]That just makes me sick...a lobbying group for corperations worth billions...taking money from people that can't even afford housing!!!!!! [/B][/QUOTE]
I thought the great thing about music file sharing with networks such as Kazaa was that you were safe from shit like this.
I thought organizations such as the RIAA could only target the software itself like they did with Napster, [b]not[/b] individual users.
Regards,
Morden
Napster was a special case, since it was expressly set up to trade mp3s; it wouldn't share any other type of file. It was also a tempting target because it relied on centralized servers: shut down the servers, and you shut down the network. Peer-to-peer networks protect the software designers by ditching the centralized server. Shutting down the company that produces Kazaa doesn't make file-sharing over the Kazaa network disappear.
Like it or not, sharing or downloading copyrighted material without some kind of payment going to the artist (or, more likely, record company) involved is piracy, and the way our legal system is designed, the RIAA is obligated to protect copyrights. By law, if you don't act to protect your copyright, it disappears -- and the material in question becomes part of the public domain. Meaning anyone can reproduce it, sell it, and make money off it [i]without paying the creator[/i]. [b]That[/b] is what the RIAA is really afraid of.
End-users are the most appropriate targets, because they are the ones doing the actual pirating; not Kazaa, not Morpheus, not WinMX. Only end-users are within their mandate.
I just hope that compromise solutions like Apple's iTunes work out. They seem reasonable enough to me: download a thirty-second preview of any and all tracks you want, and pay a small amount for the complete tracks you want to keep. All perfectly legal, perfectly legitimate, and nobody gets ripped off.
By the way, RIAA.... you're suing 1,400 people. At 7:00 at night, there are just over 4.5 Million people logged on to Kazaa. Good luck! :rolleyes:
These are pretty much the same tactics any dictator uses... make examples of certain people from all different walks of life, to demonstrate how no one is safe.
And I've been wondering... I thought it was illegal to find personal information -- as in anything at all -- about someone online, due to privacy acts... how could they even get your IP from Kazaa/Sharman?
As for determining IP addresses to begin with, well, consider this:
Every time you download a file from someone else over Kazaa, it's done using a direct connection to that user. The RIAA need only start downloading and trace that connection.
Waaaait... if you've got nothing in your folder, then they can't trace you. Right? Of course, Kazaa depends on people actually sharing files, so that defeats the purpose.
Moreover, if all you're doing is downloading, then they're not likely to care.
Official Disclaimer:
Not that that has anything to do with anything concerning the RIAA situation or anything.....
File sharing should all be perfectly legal. Not that it matters much anyways, it's not gonna stop, if the RIAA would just realize that they could turn it into an opportunity. But they're trying to fight the future.. that rarely works. This whole lawsuit thing will eventually backfire. but thats just MHO.
I can just see the CNN headlines now.....
14 YEAR OLD SUED FOR BRITNEY SPEARS PICTURES
What a frelling joke.....
IF the RIAA would use the technology instead of attempting to ban it. They'd make more grip and everybody would be happy about.
F*ck iTunes and all the others.....99 cents US a song!!!! Make it 25 cents and I'll do it. I just cant understand the logic of making online music more expensive than going to the store and buying the CD.
Think I read somewhere that the Music Industry Mafia were using tools already part of Kazaa to track down piracy. Are these legbreakers even aware of Kazaa-Lite? Though I can't help but wonder if someone designed regular/spyware kazaa with this in mind :angryv:
you know what else dropped? CD sales...by over 50%.
pretty funny IMO
Real
Idiots
Around
America
[B]you know, once the RIAA announced these lawsuits back a few months ago, file sharing on Kazaa went down DRAMATICALLY...
you know what else dropped? CD sales...by over 50%.
[/B][/QUOTE]
Newton's Law;
"Every action has an equal or opposite reaction."
Guess the RIAA don't know their physics... :rolleyes:
Regards,
Morden
[B]I still would like to know how a family in PUBLIC HOUSING was able to pay $2000 to the RIAA to settle this...
That just makes me sick...a lobbying group for corperations worth billions...taking money from people that can't even afford housing!!!!!! [/B][/QUOTE]
Its probably $2000 over time. (ie: X ammount a month)
Nah, this is best: Regressive Ignorant Aberrant Assholes!
There are now ways to buy individual songs for cheap - and yet the downloading continues. It proves to me those who argue that "i only download because the music industry is price inflating" are full of it.
This is the perfect example of moral hazard and freeloading. Proves to me humanity still isn't mature enough to even consider nationalised socialist systems. What a shame.
I do not support the RIAA in general - however thier attempts to recover losses from criminals without seeking criminal charges is perfectly legal. I think those who are upset are just being shocked back into the reality of it all.
It's real easy to click and download - just as it's real easy to grab that candy bar and just walk out the 7-11...
Stop and consider for a moment if you really want to teach your children that stealing is okay.
So now what? No one is losing money, no one is getting hurt.
[B]There are now ways to buy individual songs for cheap - and yet the downloading continues. It proves to me those who argue that "i only download because the music industry is price inflating" are full of it.
[/B][/QUOTE]
Could you please tell me where I could get my hands on that kind of service here in Finland. You probably won't find that, and if you do, to use that service I would most sertantly need a creditcard, which I don't have.
I don't say useing P2P softwares to get free music is right, but I am saying that RIAA or anybody else shouldn't say you can get cheap and only the tracks you want from internet or by other means legally.
I can also say I have downloaded music from kazaa, but only for one reason. The only music device I got that plays CDs is my computer. When the stupid recording company goes and put a copy protection on the CD so I can't play it, I will most deffinatly do anything to get it somehow to play on my computer.
In the beginning [URL=http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11493]this[/URL] of this article you can read what RIAA have done nicely.
Konrad: Maybe you missed the fact that most people download [b]to see if the CD is worth the price the RIAA overcharges[/b]. Sales actually [b]INCREASED[/b] because of networks like Napster and Kazaa. Of course, the RIAA doesn't want you to know that since it downplays their "arguements". Its the same thing with shareware. You download a "demo" version of the program to try it out. If you like it, buy it. If you don't, hit delete.
Theres also people that [b]already[/b] own legitimate copies of the music and want it in an alternative format and store the originals in a safe place. 10 - 12 hours on a single CD is a hell of alot more convenient to carry around than maybe 1 hour on a CD.
Not every person downloading music is "stealing music". That 'arguement' is flawwed in so many ways, its rediculous.