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Woman being fined $222,000 for illegal music file sharing!
Member Since: 10/21/2005
Posts: 19,258
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Woman being fined $222,000 for illegal music file sharing!
If you thought you couldn't get caught, beware. This woman (from Duluth, MN  ) is being fined 222,000 just for sharing like 24 songs. It's around 9,000 per song shared.
Quote:
DULUTH, Minn. - The recording industry hopes $222,000 will be enough to dissuade music lovers from downloading songs from the Internet without paying for them. That's the amount a federal jury ordered a Minnesota woman to pay for sharing copyrighted music online.
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"This does send a message, I hope, that downloading and distributing our recordings is not OK," Richard Gabriel, the lead attorney for the music companies that sued the woman, said Thursday after the three-day civil trial in this city on the shore of Lake Superior.
In closing arguments he had told the jury, "I only ask that you consider that the need for deterrence here is great."
Jammie Thomas, 30, a single mother from Brainerd, was ordered to pay the six record companies that sued her $9,250 for each of 24 songs they focused on in the case. They had alleged she shared 1,702 songs in all.
It was the first time one of the industry's lawsuits against individual downloaders had gone to trial. Many other defendants have settled by paying the companies a few thousand dollars, but Thomas decided she would take them on and maintained she had done nothing wrong.
"She was in tears. She's devastated," Thomas' attorney, Brian Toder, told The Associated Press. "This is a girl that lives from paycheck to paycheck, and now all of a sudden she could get a quarter of her paycheck garnished for the rest of her life."
Toder said the plaintiff's attorney fees are automatically awarded in such judgments under copyright law, meaning Thomas could actually owe as much as a half-million dollars. However, he said he suspects the record companies "will probably be people we can deal with."
Gabriel said no decision had yet been made about what the record companies would do, if anything, to pursue collecting the money from Thomas.
The record companies accused Thomas of downloading the songs without permission and offering them online through a Kazaa file-sharing account. Thomas denied wrongdoing and testified that she didn't have a Kazaa account.
Since 2003, record companies have filed some 26,000 lawsuits over file-sharing, which has hurt sales because it allows people to get music for free instead of paying for recordings in stores.
During the trial, the record companies presented evidence they said showed the copyrighted songs were offered by a Kazaa user under the name "tereastarr." Their witnesses, including officials from an Internet provider and a security firm, testified that the Internet address used by "tereastarr" belonged to Thomas.
Toder said in his closing argument that the companies never proved "Jammie Thomas, a human being, got on her keyboard and sent out these things."
"We don't know what happened," Toder told jurors. "All we know is that Jammie Thomas didn't do this."
Copyright law sets a damage range of $750 to $30,000 per infringement, or up to $150,000 if the violation was "willful." Jurors ruled that Thomas' infringement was willful but awarded damages in a middle range; Gabriel said they did not explain the amount to attorneys afterward. Jurors left the courthouse without commenting.
Before the verdict, an official with an industry trade group said he was surprised it had taken so long for one of the industry's lawsuits against individual downloaders to come to trial.
Illegal downloads have "become business as usual. Nobody really thinks about it," said Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, which coordinates the lawsuits. "This case has put it back in the news. Win or lose, people will understand that we are out there trying to protect our rights."
Thomas' testimony was complicated by the fact that she had replaced her computer's hard drive after the sharing was alleged to have taken place — and later than she said in a deposition before trial.
The hard drive in question was not presented at trial by either party.
The record companies said Thomas was sent an instant message in February 2005 warning her that she was violating copyright law. Her hard drive was replaced the following month, not in 2004 as she said in the deposition.
"I don't think the jury believed my client regarding the events concerning the replacement of the hard drive," Toder said.
The record companies involved in the lawsuit are Sony BMG, Arista Records LLC, Interscope Records, UMG Recordings Inc., Capitol Records Inc. and Warner Bros. Records Inc.
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Source: Yahoo
DAMN, I'd hate to be this girl. This is why I buy my music. But 222,000 for sharing 24 songs? That's just a little harsh. I don't even think anyone could afford that. I hope this gets spread around the world and people understand the concept of buying music not downloading it.
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Member Since: 9/4/2006
Posts: 8,136
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Member Since: 10/21/2005
Posts: 19,258
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They should make some rules regarding Illegal Music File Sharing policies. If they find a very poor family (well, if they are "poor" how are they paying for the internet itself?) downloading music, I can't understand why they do it. But if you find an average family with a good amount of money wealth coming in, I don't understand how they can't afford the music CD, which is why they should be fined.
You get what I mean? But the arguement goes both ways. If the excuse is, "I'm poor, I can't afford a CD" but they could argue, well you got internet...etc. Ummmmm, well...I don't know. Some family's can only afford a certain amount of money and some choose it on Internet access, but that's all they can afford.
I'll shut up now  .
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Banned
Member Since: 7/28/2005
Posts: 9,146
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Member Since: 12/23/2006
Posts: 20,355
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only in US...i´ll continue downloading  ....i´ve already bought >300 CD´s
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Member Since: 6/19/2007
Posts: 7,084
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how cane they report them?
i wanna report this site: www.whatz-new.blogspot.com cause they were so so so rude to me...and i didnt do anything...i wanna take on REVENGE
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Member Since: 2/8/2006
Posts: 12,651
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Member Since: 2/8/2006
Posts: 12,651
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Quote:
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Originally posted by J@Rv$
how cane they report them?
i wanna report this site: www.whatz-new.blogspot.com cause they were so so so rude to me...and i didnt do anything...i wanna take on REVENGE |
oh J@Rv$ u bring them down ... those people deserve to pay
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 12/21/2002
Posts: 20,569
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You suck the RIAA's dick way too much, Kevin.
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Member Since: 4/29/2006
Posts: 8,337
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Quote:
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Originally posted by J@Rv$
how cane they report them?
i wanna report this site: www.whatz-new.blogspot.com cause they were so so so rude to me...and i didnt do anything...i wanna take on REVENGE |
you request something and the girl (owner of the site) didn't want any requests until December
LOLz
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Member Since: 6/19/2007
Posts: 7,084
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Quote:
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Originally posted by ferpunk
you request something and the girl (owner of the site) didn't want any requests until December
LOLz
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i said i did not request...she was lying...ans Athens already warned me that she do that EVERYTIME.
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Member Since: 12/14/2006
Posts: 6,181
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i'v DL over 3000 songs off limewire im still fine =] this is why you dont have a 'share' folder.
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Member Since: 11/3/2006
Posts: 11,500
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Member Since: 10/28/2006
Posts: 19,048
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Member Since: 2/8/2006
Posts: 12,651
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Quote:
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Originally posted by SiNiSTA
i'v DL over 3000 songs off limewire im still fine =] this is why you dont have a 'share' folder.
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i love how u brag about it...hopefully none were Shakira songs...  lol jk... but u gonna jinx yourself...
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Member Since: 12/14/2006
Posts: 6,181
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im not braging ;P i just find it funny people are so paranoid about downloading, for limewire just delete your 'shared' folder and yes i believe i dl'ed underneath your cloths a few days ago but i also have her lastest cd
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Member Since: 4/29/2006
Posts: 8,337
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I bought many cd 
unfortunately I have to download some songs because that songs will never arrive here 
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Member Since: 5/1/2005
Posts: 2,017
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They actually caught somebody for a change!
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 12/21/2002
Posts: 20,569
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Kevin, you'll take any chance you'd get to sleep with someone from the RIAA.  **** those greedy bastards. You constantly support them by mentioning how you bought this and that, and they really aren't anybody you should be getting all nice with. kthxbye. Until CD's are at most, $5, I won't be buying another one. $9,000 per song? Really. 
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Member Since: 2/8/2006
Posts: 12,651
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who's Kevin 
anyways...shoot the way i see it is if i have to pay for my music... i better have everyone else paying for theirs... IMO... but i have done it 2...like this britney's new songs and i also did it for Shakira's albums but i did buy her albums and i will buy britneys 
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