RIAA offers file-sharers amnesty!

[Japher]

No lock or feeling of security is fool proof which is why they should figure something else out, instead of just suing everyone on the face of the planet.

[lord of the mark]

folks, there isnt always a way around intellectual property issues.

Take herbal remedies. Some may really work. Why arent they tested for effectiveness like commercial pharmaceuticals? Cause no one owns the intellectual property - the companies that package them dont have the incentive to spend the money on testing - better to just market it as a food supplement. No real testing on this sort of thing occured till the govt got into the business of doing so.

There may be a way - like with Linux - to make filesharing work commercially . Or there may not be. In which case we may simply see much less money put into making recorded music.

[Soul Survivor]

the problem with going after sony, its not a US company.

the biggest thing that scares me of this whole thing is how easily the RIAA is getting away with filing lawsuits without even checking who they're suing. this could set a very dangerous precedent for future mass lawsuits.

[Jack_www]

Originally posted by Soul Survivor
the problem with going after sony, its not a US company.

the biggest thing that scares me of this whole thing is how easily the RIAA is getting away with filing lawsuits without even checking who they're suing. this could set a very dangerous precedent for future mass lawsuits.

I think that they have enough proof to show that the computer has illigeal music. As far as if they get the right person is anther story. I heard a granfather was sued by them, he said his kids used his computer to download the music.

[SlowwHand]

Just a little over-zealous in their approach, I'd say.

12-Year-Old Among the 261 Sued by RIAA for File Swapping

Sued for a song
Tue Sep 9, 7:08 AM ET
By SONI SANGHA and PHYLLIS FURMAN
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

A shy Manhattan schoolgirl who gets a kick out of nursery songs and TV themes was among 261 people sued yesterday for downloading music from the Internet.

Brianna LaHara, a curly-haired 12-year-old honor student who started seventh grade yesterday at St. Gregory the Great Catholic school on W. 90th St., couldn't believe she's one of the "major offenders" the music moguls are after.

"Oh, my God, what's going to happen now?" she asked after hearing of the suit. "My stomach is all in knots."

Told she may have to go to court, Brianna's eyes widened behind wire-rimmed glasses and she said, "I'm just shocked that of all the people that do this, I'm on the list."

The Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites),AKA Worthless Bastards, said the suits filed yesterday included about 60 that targeted suspects in New York who downloaded more than 1,000 songs.

The group blames computer users such as Brianna, who use software programs to trade music with others on the Internet, for a 30% drop in music sales.

Each person sued yesterday could be liable for fines up to $150,000 for each poached track.

'Appropriate action'

Experts had predicted a large number of the suits likely would name youngsters.

"Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation, but when your product is being regularly stolen, there comes a time when you have to take appropriate action," said Carey Sherman, president of the recording association.

Sherman warned that the group may file thousands more lawsuits against people who use programs like KaZaA, Grokster, Gnutella (news - web sites), Blubster and iMesh.

Brianna's mother, Sylvia, 40, director of a nurse placement agency, said her daughter was helping her 9-year-old brother with his homework when the Daily News arrived at their apartment on W. 84th St. with word about the suit.

"For crying out loud, she's just a child," the mother said. "This isn't like those people who say, 'My son is a good boy,' and he's holding a bloody knife. All we did was use a service."

The mother said she signed up for KaZaA, paying a $29.95 fee. "If you're paying for it, you're not stealing it, so what is this all about?" she asked.

She said Brianna downloaded music by Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey, along with the themes to television shows like "Family Matters" and "Full House" - and even the nursery song, "If You're Happy and You Know It."

"That's really threatening to the music industry," she scoffed.

"If this was something we were profiting from, that's one thing. But we were just listening and sometimes dancing to the music," said the mother.

She vowed to get a lawyer to fight the suit, which she termed "ridiculous." With Robert Gearty Originally published on September 9, 2003



edit: to add my words and keep me out of trouble.

[lord of the mark]

Re: Just a little over-zealous in their approach, I'd say.

Originally posted by SlowwHand
12-Year-Old Among the 261 Sued by RIAA for File Swapping

Sued for a song
Tue Sep 9, 7:08 AM ET
By SONI SANGHA and PHYLLIS FURMAN
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Uh, sloww? You really should have edited that, added your own comments, etc. To qualify as "fair use"

[Soul Survivor]

yeah watch out sloww, the internet advertising business hasn't been doing so hot recently either

[Dr Strangelove]

Ahhhh, you guys are right, we oughta just can all the music distribution companies! Just think about how much quieter the world would be.

[Boris Godunov]

The suing of the 12-year old is a really bad PR move, not that they could get a worse reputation without going out and stomping on kittens.

They also sued a 71-year-old Texas grandfather whose grandkids had downloaded a bunch of music without his knowing. He didn't even know what filesharing was, and he found out he was being sued when the AP called him and told him...

[mrmitchell]

Wasn't there a Congressman that admitted to filesharing? I was hoping they'd sue him too. (One less Congressman )

Really, I guess they've figured their PR is already **** so they don't even care.

[Sheik]

This proposal is absurd.

My understanding is that they can really only catch people if they are sharing files. Therefore it seems that the best way to not get caught is to use Kazaa lite and enabled the IP block and to stop sharing files. Am I correct in this assumption?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Jack_www
If people can share music for free why would they pay an online service for it? That does not make sense.

Your attitude is exactly like RIAA's - treating people like thieves. This is exactly where the problem is.

I give you a counterexample - shareware. If people can get software for free, they have to be messed up in the head to pay, yes? At least according to yours and RIAA's "logic."

Got news for you. Some people do reasonably well by writing shareware programs.

[The Mad Monk]

Update on the twelve year old girl:

Girl, 12, Settles Piracy Suit for $2,000
Tue Sep 9, 7:19 PM ET

By TED BRIDIS, AP Technology Writer

WASHINGTON - A 12-year-old girl in New York who was among the first to be sued by the record industry for sharing music over the Internet is off the hook after her mother agreed Tuesday to pay $2,000 to settle the lawsuit, apologizing and admitting that her daughter's actions violated U.S. copyright laws.



The hurried settlement involving Brianna LaHara, an honors student, was the first announced one day after the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) filed 261 such lawsuits across the country. Lawyers for the RIAA said Brianna's mother, Sylvia Torres, contacted them early Tuesday to negotiate.


"We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal," Torres said in a statement distributed by the recording industry. "You can be sure Brianna won't be doing it anymore."


Brianna added: "I am sorry for what I have done. I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love."


The case against Brianna was a potential minefield for the music industry from a public relations standpoint. The family lives in a city housing project on New York's Upper West Side, and they said they mistakenly believed they were entitled to download music over the Internet because they had paid $29.99 for software that gives them access to online file-sharing services.


Even in the hours before the settlement was announced, Brianna was emerging as an example of what critics said was overzealous enforcement by the powerful music industry.


The top lawyer for Verizon Communications Inc. charged earlier Tuesday during a Senate hearing that music lawyers had resorted to a "campaign against 12-year-old girls" rather than trying to help consumers turn to legal sources for songs online. Verizon's Internet subsidiary is engaged in a protracted legal fight against the RIAA over copyright subpoenas sent Verizon customers.


Sen. **** Durbin, D-Ill., also alluded to Brianna's case.


"Are you headed to junior high schools to round up the usual suspects?" Durbin asked RIAA President Cary Sherman during a Senate Judiciary hearing.


Durbin said he appreciated the piracy threat to the recording industry, but added, "I think you have a tough public relations campaign to go after the offenders without appearing heavy-handed in the process."


Sherman responded that most people don't shoplift because they fear they'll be arrested.


"We're trying to let people know they may get caught, therefore they should not engage in this behavior," Sherman said. "Yes, there are going to be some kids caught in this, but you'd be surprised at how many adults are engaged in this activity."

Well, I hope they're happy. They took $2000 from a single parent family living in subsidized housing, and made a little girl cry.

I am disgusted beyond words.

[Boris Godunov]

Appalling. If they had any decency, they'd at least accept the contrition of the traumatized 12-year old and return the money graciously.

[Urban Ranger]

Ah, good work. It looks now that even law-abiding citizens are irated.

Soon the RIAA will be toast.