File Sharers Pay 12-year-old's Music Piracy Fine

[imported_stg1123]

File sharers pay 12-year-old's music piracy fine
A trade group representing six of the biggest file sharing web sites have pledged to pay a $US2,000 fine on behalf of a 12-year-old girl, who illegally downloaded music from the Internet.

Brianna Lahara of New York, or more precisely her mother, was fined as a settlement to a lawsuit by the music industry for illegally copying and offering pirated music on the Internet.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) says the case is the first of 261 lawsuits filed in an effort to clamp down on illegal music-swapping on the Internet.

"We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal," the girl's mother, Sylvia Torres, said in a statement issued by the RIAA.

"You can be sure Brianna won't be doing it any more."

For her part, Brianna said: "I am sorry for what I have done, I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love."

But "P2P United" has stepped in, offering to pay Brianna's fine.

"We don't condone copyright infringement but it's time for the RIAA's winged monkeys to fly back to the castle and leave the Munchkins alone," the group's executive director, Adam Eisgrau, said.

He says "they're using 150,000 dollar-per-song lawsuits and a squad of high-paid lawyers to strong-arm $2,000 from single mothers in public housing".

Mr Eisgrau says others charged include a 71-year-old grandfather and a Columbia University senior, whose father recently died of cancer.

His group, formed in July to protect the rights of people who file share and the industry, represents Streamcast Networks, Grokster, LimeWire, BearShare, Blubster and EDonkey.

The RIAA says the lawsuits, filed on Monday local time, are the first in what could be thousands of suits in a bid to stem rampant online piracy of copyrighted songs.

But the tactic has been criticised by some as a heavy-handed invasion of privacy that could alienate music fans.

It had charged that the computer used by the girl offered more than 1,000 copyrighted song tracks via the KaZaa file-sharing service.

"We're trying to send a strong message that you are not anonymous when you participate in peer-to-peer file sharing and that the illegal distribution of copyrighted music has consequences, "RIAA chairman and chief executive Mitch Bainwol said.

"As this case illustrates, parents need to be aware of what their children are doing on their computers."

-- AFP

[Adster]

so who cna pay my 5 bilion fine? if I got f*ck up the ass which will never happen living in Australia

[callum]

Originally posted by stg1123@11 September 2003 - 02:25

it's time for the RIAA's winged monkeys to fly back to the castle and leave the Munchkins alone," the group's executive director, Adam Eisgrau, said.

Quote of the week :lol:

[Jibbler]

Originally posted by stg1123@10 September 2003 - 22:25
But "P2P United" has stepped in, offering to pay Brianna's fine.

He says "they're using 150,000 dollar-per-song lawsuits and a squad of high-paid lawyers to strong-arm $2,000 from single mothers in public housing".

Actually, I like this one better. Go P2P United! Anyone got a weblink for these guys? Don't make me open up Google. :huh:

[Adster]

Actually, I like this one better. Go P2P United! Anyone got a weblink for these guys? Don't make me open up Google.

:lol: :lol:

I love jibblers lines :lol:

[mogadishu]

where the hell do they get the money?

[callum]

In response to the scrutiny, peer-to-peer companies are starting to take a more active role in the political process. Representatives of peer-to-peer companies Grokster and Sharman Networks, which is the distributor of Kazaa, are starting separate lobbying groups to represent the interests of file-swapping companies.

Adam Eisgrau, the new executive director of P2P United, the Grokster-backed trade group, said crackdowns on peer to peer are "not a good use of public policy."

I don't know if they get their money from the makers of kazaa and grokster

[Adster]

probaly the government

[gsteelechef]

What are they doing with all this settlement money??

What good is this lawsuit?
Personally, I will never support the music industry after this invasion of a person's privacy on their part. It really shows what maters to them. $$$$$$$$$ :ph34r:

[Adster]

its the music industry fault why ppl download music in the firt place if it wasn't so damm expensive

[internet.news]

12 year old - man, god, I think this is extraordinary in some ways crazy sueing kids for sharing - that is not good in my eyes, cause we have to share our thoughts openly :) and only of sharing some music and thoughts they do not become criminals ...

thanks anyway, david.

[firebird32]

ater this i say f**k them, i always support good groups and buy the cd's after i've heard them on a p2p (going off on a rant here) most of the music produced today is BO**ocks, and were still expected to buy whole albums on the strength of the one single that we liked..jesus i have three whole boxes of cd's where i only liked a couple of the tracks. its one of the few industries which will sell you a product on a partial try. get over it jion the 21st century and either offer better product or get out of the wat and ill pay the artist by the track (breaths out)

[firebird32]

i Think the wine may be getting to me..lol

[8ball]

I was on Much Music today reading about the new Beck and Dust Brothers album&DVD. When I was done reading this I scrolled down 1 headline. Ok I know everyone is sick to death of hearing about the RIAA but read this.

RIAA Sues Little Girl, Shakes Mom Down For Two Grand
Mitch Bainwol is totally gonna get reamed in our slambook
[Posted Thursday, September 11th, 2003 04:30:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Jeremy C. Baron reports:
We didn't think it could be done, but we were wrong: the douchebags at the Recording Industry Association of America have sunk to a new low. Among the 261 alleged copyright infringers targeted in a new wave of lawsuits against users who share files online is Brianna LaHara, a 12-year-old honors student living in a New York City housing project, according to reports from the Associated Press and the New York Daily News. The little tyke was sued by the RIAA Tuesday morning, causing her mother, Sylvia Torres, to settle the suit for $2,000 and an admission of wrongdoing.

According to Torres, the child's downloads included TV theme songs and nursery-school staples such as "If You're Happy And You Know It." Let me venture a guess here: little Brianna ain't clapping no hands or stomping no feet right now. According to the New York Daily News, after learning about the suit, Brianna exclaimed, "Oh, my God, what's going to happen now? My stomach is all in knots." U.S. copyright law permits the trade organization to sue alleged infringers for up to $150,000 per song being shared, and the defendants in most cased were sharing more than 1,000 songs, meaning that the maximum damages sought by the group could total $150 million per user. Most of the recent suits have been settled for less than $3,000.

RIAA president Carey Sherman chimes in: "When your product is being regularly stolen, there comes a time when you have to take appropriate action." Carey, you made a little girl cry! Okay, so the lobbyists want to stop people from the scary file-sharers who may or may not hurt their racket of selling 30-cent CD's for more than 60 times that amount, and that's fine. Anyone who's ever seen an episode of The Sopranos can empathize with the need to protect the family business, but aren't you getting a little Ralphie by going out with all guns blazing on a 7th grader?

The RIAA has also, for some reason, been targeting grandparents in their sweeping round of suits. Wait, we just got it-- they're going after grandma's Social Security check! Take 71-year-old Durwood Pickle of Richardson, TX. After recieving notice that he, too, was being sued by the RIAA, he claimed that he's "not a computer-type person" and that his grandkids were possibly the ones who committed the actual file-sharing on his connection. "I didn't do it," he told the AP, "and I don't feel like I'm responsible. How do I get out of this? Dadgum it, got to get a lawyer on this." Did you know that Microsoft Office doesn't come with the correct spelling of "dadgum it" pre-loaded?

RIAA: http://www.riaa.com
Boycott RIAA: http://www.boycott-riaa.com

Pitchfork News- Sept 11/03 (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/03-09/11.shtml)

[pussymasterzee]

wrong place to post son

[mogadishu]

Originally posted by pussymasterzee@12 September 2003 - 10:50
wrong place to post son
no.. musicworld is where this belongs. the problem is that this has already been posted.

[pussymasterzee]

i thought all the RIAA stuff had its own pinned in the file-sharing world

[mogadishu]

yea it could go in either.. its music so..

[Snee]

Originally posted by mogadishu+12 September 2003 - 16:56--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (mogadishu @ 12 September 2003 - 16:56)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-pussymasterzee@12 September 2003 - 10:50
wrong place to post son
no.. musicworld is where this belongs. the problem is that this has already been posted. [/b][/quote]
Twice before.

[mogadishu]

Originally posted by SnnY+12 September 2003 - 11:07--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (SnnY @ 12 September 2003 - 11:07)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Originally posted by mogadishu@12 September 2003 - 16:56
<!--QuoteBegin-pussymasterzee@12 September 2003 - 10:50
wrong place to post son
no.. musicworld is where this belongs. the problem is that this has already been posted.
Twice before. [/b][/quote]
there ya go.