Woman fined $1.9 million for illegal downloads

[The Fiddler]

Yikes!!! $80,000/song! I guess the federal jury was trying to send a message. I have no love lost for illegal downloaders, but this fine made my jaw drop. Something to think about next time you visit your favorite torrent to get that free sample.

From CNN.com.

Woman fined $1.9 million for illegal downloads
Posted: 07:57 PM ET
By Elianne Friend
CNN

(CNN) — A federal jury Thursday found a 32-year-old Minnesota woman guilty of illegally downloading music from the Internet and fined her $80,000 each — a total of $1.9 million — for 24 songs.

Jammie Thomas-Rasset’s case was the first such copyright infringement case to go to trial in the United States, her attorney said.

Attorney Joe Sibley said that his client was shocked at fine, noting that the price tag on the songs she downloaded was 99 cents. She plans to appeal, he said.

 

[King Lek]

Good.

 

[AngraRULES]

Oh here we go again. Another one of those threads with people calling other people assholes for downloading songs.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

In before the first shot is fired!

 

[adaher]

They'll have better luck winning the war on drugs and stopping illegal immigration than winning a war on downloading.

 

[Gunstar9]

They'll have better luck winning the war on drugs and stopping illegal immigration than winning a war on downloading.

You forgot the war on terror too.

 

[Pellaz]

I'm glad she tried to stick up for her beliefs (or whatever)....but she declined an offer from RIAA to settle for around $3k total (not per song) and ended up worsening her situation by taking it to trial the second time. Her lawyer didn't do her too many favors, either, by haranguing the jury and equating them with her.
Sorry, lady, but my sympathy trough comes up empty on this one.

 

[adaher]

You forgot the war on terror too.

That's one's a lot easier. Not too many people want to kill women and children for political reasons. At least, relative to the number who want to smoke pot or download music.

 

[General Zod]

They'll have better luck winning the war on drugs and stopping illegal immigration than winning a war on downloading.

Actually, the war on drugs is quite easily won... legalize it and tax it.

Zod

 

[rushzil2112]

Bring on the pot and illegal downloads, hehe. I know people that if they fined them $80,000 per song it would add up to more than the deficit the US has.

 

[MysticX9]

Actually, the war on drugs is quite easily won... legalize it and tax it.

Zod

Hear, hear!!!

 

[General Zod]

Bring on the pot and illegal downloads, hehe. I know people that if they fined them $80,000 per song it would add up to more than the deficit the US has.

LOL. That's true. And really, what was the point of this case?

A. She's not going to pay it
B. The record industry continues to paint themselves as an industry attacking its customers
C. This doesn't serve as a cautionary tale. Is anyone now worried they're going to be fined $80K a song?
D. The record industry has been ripping off artists and fans since its inception. Now that they've consolidated into a multi-national, faceless conglomerate of evil, that's combined the record industry, broadcast radio, concert venues and ticket sales, and completely decimated the music industry with endless stream of stipper Pop stars, are we now suppose to shed a tear over their demise?

F*ck'em.

I hope they go under.

Then, would be strippers won't get record contracts (and I'll finally be able to get a lap dance from Brittney Spears). Pop music can die a quick death, and only artists, to whom the music actually means somethig, will continue to make in their home studios and release it digitally.

Musicians will continue to make music in the absence of a physical distribution model. It's what musicians do.

Zod

 

[edgeofthorns]

They'll have better luck winning the war on drugs and stopping illegal immigration than winning a war on downloading.

I'm straying off subject here a bit, but the government has to make an effort before "winning" anything regarding illegal immigration. Now, back to our topic.

~Brian~

 

[Pelata]

This was her second trial...first she was ordered to pay $220,000 total ($9100 per song) and she challenged it or something. That's still too much. In all honesty, I think a fine of $250 per song plus court cost is plenty. This individual stole $24...she should not be forced to basically pay for nearly 2 million songs for other people.

And, we all knew this was coming, file sharing is only one of several things killing the music industry...greed and $h!tty music being two others...

 

[edgeofthorns]

Actually, the war on drugs is quite easily won... legalize it and tax it.

Zod

Nope, we need to seal our boarders, cut Mexico's water off, and quit being wimps when it comes to sentencing our own drug offenders.

~Brian~

 

[Pelata]

Nope, we need to seal our boarders, cut Mexico's water off, and quit being wimps when it comes to sentencing our own drug offenders.

~Brian~

Wimps? There are guys serving 25 years for a half-baggie of weed...

 

[Megawozniak]

I can safely say that I wouldn't have spent nearly as much money on cds without downloading. Maybe I'm the minority, but downloading was what exposed me to good metal years ago, starting on Napster and Limewire. The only money the industry lost from me is the money I would've probably spent on radio friendly pop shit.

 

[St Enigma]

In Europe people won't swallow anything. The Pirate Party movement is spreading in the Internet. Maybe after a few more mindless trials on individuals like this in the USA, maybe in the days of Twitter and Facebook the authorities in USA will wake up one day facing a serious political mass targeting the media conglomerates' powers from the consumers' point of view like just happened in Sweden.


The internet generation stikes back.

In Sweden the government and global media industry went on rampage trying to shut down the Pirate Bay torrent server, in which they failed because in response the server was moved out of Sweden's territiory and mirrored around the world. The resulting juridical process known as The Pirate Bay trial reached a verdict on Friday 17 April 2009 finding all four procecuted persons guilty, and sentenced to serve one year in prison and pay a fine of 30 million SEK (app. €2.7 million or USD 3.5 million). Appeals have been made.

But the internet community stroke back immediately. Right on the same day the number of members in the Swedish "Piratpartiet" (Pirate party) began to grow to the square and rocketed (from 0.63% in the 2006 vote) to an astounding 7.13% of the total Swedish votes in the 2009 European Parliament elections held just under 2 months later on June 8. which will result in one seat (of 18 total from Sweden) in the European Parliament, (or two if the Lisbon Treaty goes into effect)

All that only because young people got truely pissed with the global media industry trying to make them pay for their own goddamn financial mistakes and unfulfilled estimates when sticking to old CD -format delivery. Why didn't they buy Napster 12 yrs ago and turn it profit-making machinery but instead went on suing it causing the explosion in the development of p2p clients and leading mass downloading?

Now the pirate movement has started gaining genuine political power, not much yet but just that one seat should get the alarm bells ringing in the old self-satisfied political parties and coalitions all over teh world. The internet generation will fight back, but they will also choose their weapons and court.

 

[Rycher]

In all honesty, I think a fine of $250 per song plus court cost is plenty. This individual stole $24...she should not be forced to basically pay for nearly 2 million songs for other people.

A different article that I read stated that she had these songs available on some file sharing site like Kazaa. Which means that maybe she stole only 24 songs, but she also made them available to millions of others to steal, thus distributing them. So there could be a lot more missing sales than you think.

Good for the jury in this case.

 

[No-Mercy]

im not a big fan of downloading just any bands song, but it happens. i think bands have to come to terms with reality and try to use the internet/downloading thing to their advantage rather than just complain about it.

i mean if a band is huge and really doesnt get hurt by downloads, i dont see the big deal at all. i wish for smaller bands that could use the money alot that people would support them financially too, but hey...i suppose if they buy merchandise/go to concerts they are

that is one hefty price, i'd feel embarassed if i was one of the bands whose songs made this woman out 80 grand.