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Woman fined $1.9 MILLION for illegally downloading 24 songs

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Baron Scicluna, Jun 19, 2009.

  1. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/18/minnesota.music.download.fine/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

    How the heck can a jury figure that a $ .99-cent song is worth $80,000?
     
  2. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    This is the same woman who was previously found liable for $220K. She got a new trial on a technicality. Bet she wishes she hadn't.

    The RIAA has been absolutely reprehensible in the way it's gone about doing this.
     
  3. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Gulp. At that rate they would fine my wife about $600,000,000 . . . not including whatever the penalty would be for downloading 6 seasons of I Love Lucy, dozens of BBC documentaries and a $399 Rosetta Stone Russian program she downloaded for me. :eek:
     
  4. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    She was really, really confident she was going to win that case, too.
     
  5. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    Well, at the exchange rate set by this jury, $79,200 to the dollar, the Rosetta Stone alone would cost you $31,600,800.

    Will that be cash or check? :D

    As for the BBC documentaries, just buy a TV licence. That should cover you. ;)
     
  6. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    I'd be declaring bankruptcy and wishing the RIAA the best of luck and a hearty fuck you in trying to collect.
     
  7. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    That's where the changes in bankruptcy law fuck you, though. You can probably reduce the obligation by doing that, but once you start over, your wages are still going to be garnished to some degree to satisfy at least a portion of the debt.

    She likely will never pay the full $1.9M, but unless the verdict is reduced or thrown out on appeal, I suspect those pigfuckers will see to it that she lives a life of misery and poverty.
     
  8. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    The only way she pays a significant amount of money is if she refuses to settle, which is possible given what I've read about her case.

    The collection was never the point with the RIAA. It was the legal precedent.
     
  9. Kato

    Kato Well-Known Member

    I still don't understand the idea to go after one person. If the RIAA wants to stop this, it has to fight the internet companies, website developers and site owners, right? I mean anyone can go online right now and download a recently released feature film (I've never done this, but a few people at work do it all the time and call me crazy for having Netflix) and grab music off blogs. Why has the Hype Machine never been shut down or is it now in bed with the RIAA? What was the rationale to fight one person.
     
  10. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    The RIAA isn't initiating any more individual lawsuits. Their current plan is to work with ISPs and government to try to shut down downloading (their favorite is to try to institute plans where you are banned from ISPs for downloading). They just aren't letting go of the lawsuits they already had going.

    Many of the site owners are overseas, it'd be pretty impossible to go after them.
     
  11. Captain_Kirk

    Captain_Kirk Well-Known Member

    Your honor, I wish to submit this as Exhibit 161A why our legal system is a fucking mess.

    And $80K for a Gloria Estefan song? Shouldn't someone pay her 80K for pain and suffering after listening to it?
     
  12. sostartled

    sostartled Member

    They're trying to scare others, most likely. I'll tell you, it's made me think twice. I won't download mainstream artists anymore, unless I pay for it on iTunes. Not that I download a lot of music anyway anymore.
     
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