RIAA Wins Big Against File-Sharer, $1.5M for 24 Songs

Ernesto
November 4, 2010
238
jammie thomas,
RIAA
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Jammie Thomas-Rasset has lost her re-retrial against the RIAA and is now ordered to pay $1.5 million for 24 songs she shared via Kazaa. The jury found her guilty of infringing the rights of Capitol Records and found a $62,500 fine per shared song to be an appropriate punishment. If recouped, the money will be invested in new anti-piracy campaigns.

riaa Once again a Minneapolis jury has decided in favor of the RIAA, handing out a hefty fine for 24 songs shared back in 2006. The verdict is the third milestone win for the RIAA in this case.

It all started in 2007 when a jury hit Jammie Thomas-Rasset with a $222,000 verdict in her case against the RIAA. Thomas-Rasset later appealed and in 2008 a mistrial was declared, with the judge ruling that the fines were “disproportionate to the damages suffered.”

The case went up for re-trial before a new jury last year and again a guilty verdict was reached with even harsher fines than first time around. Thomas-Rasset was ordered to pay $80,000 per infringement mounting up to a total of $1.92 million in fines.

Fast forward a few months and this jury-awarded fine was reduced significantly to $54,000 at the beginning of this year, as the excessive damages were ruled to be unconstitutional.

Then this week, the appeal of the retrial was heard and once again the RIAA/Capitol Records came out as the big winner. The jury decided that Thomas-Rasset has to pay a $62,500 fine per shared song which adds up to a total of $1.5 million (compare that to Germany).

A massive win for the RIAA again, but not one that will benefit any musicians.

Previously, the RIAA told TorrentFreak that if they manage to recoup any of the damages, it will not go to the artists but will instead be used to fund new anti-piracy campaigns. “Any funds recouped are re-invested into our ongoing education and anti-piracy programs,” RIAA’s Jonathan Lamy said.

The RIAA sees these cases not as a means to recoup money, but as a good way to communicate their anti-piracy message to the public. These cases create awareness about the consequences illicit file-sharing may have, the group argues. That they lose money on them by paying millions in lawyer fees is a calculated decision.

Even after this third jury verdict the RIAA is set to get even more exposure, as this re-retrial is probably not the end of the road. Thomas-Rasset’s legal team has already announced that they will file a new appeal.

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Pengineer

I would have laughed outloud in the courtroom and asked how they thought I would pay that. Also would have pointed out what a waste of time and money on the prosecutions part because there is no money to get from me. If I had 1.6 million I would have just bought the music….RETARDS
Bob Freida

Who pays for all of the costs associated with these trials? The taxpayers.

Three trials must have cost a bundle! I suppose 99% of taxpayers don’t realize that their taxes are going towards funding RIAA initiatives.

The RIAA is a cancer.
Anonymous

1.5 million dollars for 24 songs is just wrong! I do not see how it is justifiable.
chekr

Even a single cent would be too much for a pirated song because pirates don’t steal anything in the first place (except perhaps ‘potential profit’, but that’s a terrible, terrible argument in the first place since everyone in existence ‘steals’ profit that others could, potentially, have had).

Bad news and more bad news. I wonder when the brainwashed drones will finally wake up, start utilizing basic logic, and realize that not only is going after pirates a hopeless endeavor, but it logically makes no sense because they don’t harm anyone in the first place.
Jeroenz0r

Plain retarded, this ain’t justice!
Kirkpad

They just throw a big number in the air and hope it sticks. Is there any reasoning/research behind the fine per song?
danixd

This is a total joke. I don’t understand how this is a true story… $62.5k per song.

Fuck the RIAA.
Clarence

Oh boy… ANONYMOUS isn’t going to like this!!!!

DDOS targeting RIAA in 5….4….3….2…..1…..
three-oh-six

they don’t even give any money to the artists? that’s retarded.
Dustin

“Previously, the RIAA told TorrentFreak that if they manage to recoup any of the damages, it will not go to the artists but will instead be used to fund new anti-piracy campaigns”

So really the RIAA doesn’t give a shit about the artists they are supposed to be protecting, and are doing this all in spite and to raise awareness for their cause. That’s *seriously* fucked up.
illegal tree

Those jurors should be forced to pay $1.5 million each for the criminal act they just committed against a fellow citizen.
Carefully Watching

She shared music I understand a small fine but $1.5 million? How did they come to that figure? How did the even manage to prove to the courts that they “lost” money in her file sharing? We have to have some old judges who make these verdicts. They can’t have a clue on how the internet works. Sometimes I am just disappointed in this country.
Wow! Bend over Jammie!

and by wow I don’t mean world of warcraft……but damn, Jammie got burned!
TerribleTony

They are trying to destroy an innocents life, but she has stated multiple times that they will not get the money. This is costing the RIAA more than it is costing Jammie Thomas.

Long Live Jammie Thomas!
DehydratedWhileDrowning

http://tinyurl.com/donaldtrump69
afrowolf

Some sort of reverse-Robin Hood scheme they’ve got going there. Nice to see they admit they are taking all the money for themselves. For that, um… education… and anti-piracy.

They surely hate piracy, since it’s their cookie jar fund. Assuming that any of the people they sue has even one percent of what their are fined.
Anonymous

Another day where I wake up read the news and feel very grateful I am in Canada
Anonymous

This only backfires; instead of communicating an anti-piracy message, it communicates a pro-piracy message (as in “these guys are obviously evil, so we should stick it to them as much as we can”). This would not happen if the value were more reasonable.
Devild Advocate

How many fcking retrails are they allowed in the US, does it just go on and on.?
Shit American justice as usual.
You got the money, you get a fair trial, if you dont you dont. God bless America.
Herp a Derp

WARNING

http://anonops.net/ is backed by the CIA and are harvesting IP’s from people who participate on the copyright.gov ddos.

You have been warned
SL

“If recouped”, yeah right, it could be $1.5m or $1.5B and they wont see a penny of it, she will just declare herself bankrupt.

They lost a whole load of money to the lawyers just to ruin a womans life.
reacto

ddos the bejesus out of these bastards shut their site down mass ddos!who the hell do they think they are!
noko

Where’s my LOIC…
British tangent.

That is just plain wrong,this is corporate bullying big time.
I hope someone with legal clout overturns this,totally wrong.
NewEraCracker

Loic is @ http://github.com/NewEraCracker/LOIC/downloads

;)
Anonymous

@20 Herp a Derp:

Given that going to that site is perfectly legal (lots of people do just to see what they are up to), and that the DDoS is coordinated elsewhere (in an IRC channel last I heard), I call troll.
Roma

Sounds a bit cheap. Maybe it was happy hour in the court.
afsgf

Fuck RIAA. I hope their site gets DDoS’d to hell again ASAP.
doyourhomework

@18 : “http://anonops.net/ is backed by the CIA and are harvesting IP’s from people who participate on the copyright.gov ddos.”

You have legit sources for that statement, or are you just fear mongering?

Participating in a DDoS does expose your IP address to the site you’re attacking, sure, but that’s different from anonops being an entrapment scheme run by the feds. It sounds plausible, but I’d rather have facts than rumors.
mlo

Sickening. I simply don’t understand the reasoning behind it. What would happen to you if you STOLE a cd from a store? A month in jail? A fine of $2500? I mean really…What the hell is wrong with these people? What a stupid fucking jury.
doyourhomework

er, @20 Herp a Derp
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Anonymoose

You hear that sound?

That’s the sound of people Chargin’ their Lazors
Anonymous human being

I’m calling my ISP tomorrow to upgrade my Internet connection so I can have an even FASTER upload. I’m going to share more than ever and not stop for anybody.

I’m sick to the stomach and almost speechless at this verdict. THIS is what we need to fight against. Let’s push humanity forward and evolve together — free sharing for all.
in.cog.nito

$62,500 per song? Those jurors are out of their god-damn minds.
Flying Dutchman

All I can do is sit down and lol hearthly at the American Justice system. The system here in Holland isn’t perfect as well, but in the US its just friggin insane.
What kind of use does a contitution have, when Coorperations like the RIAA can work around it?
root@their.boxes

Indeed, this is one more laughable case. If I’d have that kind of money, I’d buy shitty music. I will *never* pay for this music ever again after seeing how they handle this. Eat that.

Oh and I will upload a HUGE torrent with my entire music-collection, preferably in FLAC format AND mp3 at the same time, so people can pick the ones they want. Just to annoy the RIAA. That’s what they get for this. Payback is a bitch isn’t it?
Paul

Come on, seriously, what is the chance of them getting any of that money? $1.5 million lol
Dr. Evil

Me and my boyz at the RIAA want a Million, Trillion, Zillion Dollars!
Anonymous

Wasn’t there an article a while back showing the RIAA spends WAY more money than they bring in? they spent something like 50 million and brought in a few hundred thousand?
CyrillicDomain

> $1.5 million for 24 songs

> The RIAA sees these cases not as a means to recoup money

oh no, no, of course it’s not a way to recoup money, who would have thought of that? :D
Anonymous

Wasn’t there an article a while back showing the RIAA spends WAY more money than they bring in? they spent something like 50 million and brought in a few hundred thousand? so if by “big win” you mean ruined a few hundred people’s lives and pissed away a lot of money in the process…then yes.
me

Some1 should start shooting riaa members. That would be a wery good start for freedom
Flying Dutchman

By the way, any1 has a list of the 24 songs jammie shared? Every1 should start uploading those songs just to piss off the RIAA

RIAA are parasites, and parasites need to be exterminated…
mike

this is just outrageous. no way can this be enforced. most people wont see a million in their lifetime.

4chan, focus your guns and never let go of the fire button.

this is a joke beyond comprehension.
sausages

ipredator vpn is loosing connection almost every 10 minutes for last few hours, and often i wake to find utorrent has been restarted about 8 times by the software i use to kill utorrent the second my vpn fails, wtf is wrong with ipredator ? why is it so unstable ? ive had enough of it so wont be renewing my payment to them, so what vpn is really reliable? it must be unlimited downloads please explain how often it looses connection and what it costs thanks
DWD

The RIAA has lost their spirituality. They are out of balance with the ecosystem. Live by the sword, die by the sword as in legal moves. They have no business being in music! How can we support an organization with our dollars when they go against everything we stand for and believe in? They are anathema and shall be excommunicated from human economy. We cannot deny the benefits of technology any longer. Down with the antitechnologists! The desire for liberty, fairness and a happy life are innate desires for we, the animals of God made of condensed light. The balance shall prevail. Boycott thy enemies. Refrain from giving your various energies to them. We will win this glorious Ghandiesque battle lads. The true key however, is the following:
http://tinyurl.com/filesharersued
Anonymous

*Hears Operation Payback’s Cyber War Fighters In The Background*

RIAA, Even Bruce Willis himself could not save you.

REMEMBER REMEMBER THE 5′TH OF NOVEMBER
Nick

If I steal a couple cd’s from my local Best Buy would I get fined $1.5 million dollars? No! I’d probably get a $400 dollar fine and maybe a day in jail. The Riaa is just out to make money.
trustnoone

Screwww that, go for broke, spend all your money as much as you can, an then file for bancrupcy, he will have to do that anyway so might as well blow it all first. Thats just crazy though, its like they claim that each outrageous fine is just to “send a message” but from all these outrageous claims, their just reaping in the money.
Correctly me if I’m wrong but didn’t people use to kill people to send a message to the rest of a group. The RIAA is working the exact same way!!!
Anonymous

What the hell are these jurors thinking? Seriously, it was up to them to choose the amount of the damages. Were they all sniffing glue while deliberating?
Ven

“1.5 million dollars for 24 songs is just wrong! I do not see how it is justifiable.”

The RIAA goes to court with tons of statistics (they have the best, it is their industry), and depending upon the age and maturity of the defendant, the amount of songs shared, and the methods used to share that music, can present a logically convincing argument as to the financial worth of sharing those tracks. Let me see if I can give you an example…

Itunes takes 30 cents on the dollar for each song sold, with the rest going to the copyright holder (in this case the label). So, if a song is downloaded 100k times, that’s 70k they just made. When those 100k downloads are done through filesharing, they miss out on 70k worth of income.

In order to show that the songs were in all likeliness downloaded that many times, they take each individual song and show it’s sales statistics along with statistics showing the percentage of stolen music for that genre or artist.

All in all, I don’t blame the RIAA for playing our legal system like the pros they are. I blame our legal system for making it so unbelievably stupid to deal with non-commercial copyright infringement that only giant corporations can actually do it (5 years? 1.5 million dollars from a reservation worker?).

As an independent artist, I can’t afford to protect my art the way the government says I should be able to. If they want the laws to be the way they are, they could at least enforce them more effectively.
Krow

My guess is this will all stop (if laws aren’t changed too much) when those who are 50 and up die off. That way, the next generation moves in and spews their ideas of how the world should be run and how the internet should be.
Farts

I think you guys are going about it all wrong. They have the law on their side so sharing as much as we can only increases the abuse from corporations like the riaa that want to molest a working person out of their money.

So I say don’t download and don’t buy either. I would even suggest people stop going to concerts and boycott the whole music industry. This would force them to make changes. They are getting money from some where and we have to cut off their supply line legally by voting with our wallets.
James

Money and Justice sleep together.
Anonymous Goat

^ not illegal, got it?
Anonymous

The trial takes place in the U.S.

It’s the house of r3tarded/unfair/unjust/ludicrous/laughable judges and verdicts.
Sad

My love goes out to this poor lady may god look over her and I wish her the best of luck.
thelist

Here are the 24 songs. Everybody make a torrent with this list and share away:

Vanessa Williams – Save the best for last
Sheryl Crow – Run baby run
Reba McEntire – One honest heart
Janet Jackson – let’s wait awhile
Guns ‘n Roses – Welcome to the jungle
Guns ‘n Roses – November rain
Def Leppard – Pour some sugar on me
Bryan Adams – Somebody
Aerosmnith – Cryin
Linkin Park – One step closer
Green Day – Basket case
Goo Goo Dolls – iris
No Doubt – Hella Good
No Doubt – Different people
No Doubt – Bathwater
Sarah McLaughlan – Building a mystery
Sarah McLaughlan – Possession
Gloria Estefan – Rhythm is gonna get you
Gloria Estefan – Here and we are
Gloria Estefan – coming out of the dark
Journey – Faithfully
Journey – Don’t stop believin
Destiny’s child – Bills, bills, bills
Richard Marx – Now and for ever
Anonymous

Jammie Thomas-Rasset and her attorney, Kiwi Camara, plan to fight this under the statue that deems the damages too high and unconstitutional.

Don’t worry, there are plenty of people in Minneapolis who are supporting Thomas-Rasset. I will definitely be in the courtroom for the next battle.

http://www.startribune.com/local/106707273.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUac8HEaDiaMDCinchO7DUs
USA=United.States.of.A-holeCorporations

I guess i see 0 bits of logic behind these “damages”

1 Song = .99 ($1 for calculations)
So she shared every song 62,500 times and they have evidence of every single time it was shared? That’s f*kn ludicrous

That’s the only way they could “prove” these damages; anything else is just pulling numbers out of their ass …. and that’s justice?

WTF?
‘puterman

And how much were all the Jurors paid by RIAA advocates prior to their decision?
SeizurePenguin

Ruining somebody’s life for the sake of hanging on to an obsolete business model and 24 songs? Do these people have a shred of humanity left in their hearts?
Anon

Kill yourself. Start new life in spain. ;)
Drag0nflamez

have you never seen some judges? they just say he/she’s guilty because they want to go home quickly instead of having a long gathering.
zan

hilarious. If i share all the music i have at that figure id owe half a billion dollars to riaa.

can I pay it in monthly installments?

this is madness.
Pingback: RIAA Wins Big Against File-Sharer, $1.5M for 24 Songs | Systema
anon

isnt it amazing how much business owns this country. amazing. i mean not to me, people think im paranoid wen i say this shit.
“how can u say that ‘anon’ were free, this is democracy”…
wen i tell em riaa filled limewire with viruses they think im crazy
but i dunno how anyone CANT think theres huge business conspiracys.
1.5 mill for 24 songs? LOLZ. they havent bothered hiding the corruption for… around the same amount of time the interwebs been around. EPIPHANY: its always been like this, we were just easier to lie to before. my bad, im done protesting, back to work proles, dunno why were even questioning our corporate overlords…
anon

LOLZ, the funniest shit is this was kazaa, we are SO FAR beyond kazaa. i guess thats thats the point, share the casual file sharers. ok anonymos, lets retaliate by telling at least 2 people each how to anonymously get music and movies free, and hopefully they each tell 2 more friends, woohoo cant wait for the wireless darknets :)
rev

“These cases create awareness about the consequences illicit file-sharing may have, the group argues.”
How delusional! Anyone who cares enough already knows the RIAA is a cancer, and anyone who doesn’t is probably too busy downloading music.
Anonymous

LOL How is that possible? Oh wait… land of the free!
Pingback: Americana é condenada a pagar US$ 1,5 milhão por baixar músicas ilegalmente | Demais assuntos
DarknezzFallz

I would love to know were they got those peers from. Nothing normal about this.
Anonymous

Good news: MGM is bankrupt!
Pingback: Tweets that mention RIAA Wins Big Against File-Sharer, $1.5M for 24 Songs | TorrentFreak -- Topsy.com
tonylmaner@aol.com

password: r5t6y78

This will backfire against the RIAA. I mean come on! ONE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS FOR 24 SONGS?? GIVE ME A BREAK!
Everyone will see the RIAA for what they really are…
anon

ewwwww journey? 1.4 mil is a small price to pay to get journey off the interwebs…

DONT STOP…..
ANNOYING…
MEEEEEEEEEEE

no seriously, all those artists suck
anon

im confused about the guy fawkes thing. we LIKE him right? cuz the 5th of november celebrates his FAIL, so were like reversing that and making it about him cuz we want to “fight the power”? but it sounds like he was working for the pope, so actually the pope was the bigger “power” and the king guy was trying to ill was the guy “fighting the power”, unless anonymous is catholic i dont quite understand who/why were celebrating guy fawkes the dude on the 5th of november….
Anonymous

disgusting is what this is.RIAA Suck My Ass !!!!

boycott the MAFIAAA
and hope they get DDos’ed
Empathy

Hahahaha!! That bitch got OWNED. Enjoy being in debt for the rest of your life. LOL
Glad

We just need to find a way for RIAA fags to waste $3mil
Jcberry526

Ha IMAO fuck that, they much all be on drugs to hand that type of fine out LOL

just like the time my dad was fined for £2.500+ for having NO DOG license (dog the size of a cat)
Ven

“1 Song = .99 ($1 for calculations)
So she shared every song 62,500 times and they have evidence of every single time it was shared? That’s f*kn ludicrous”

To clear this up somewhat from a legal perspective:

The law sees uploading music as “unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material.” Within the law, there is no difference between sharing on Kazaa and building a rip factory and selling bootleg CDs and DVDs as an illegal business. The judge and jury have to look at the facts without being able to draw a general conclusion based on who she is or how she went about breaking the law.

So they look at these facts:

- She uploaded certain songs specifically so others could download them (knowingly distributing copyrighted material without permission).
- Statistics show that those songs are illegally downloaded X times.

There is no clause in the law saying that people should be let off easy simply because a million other people are doing the same thing. The RIAA could drag every last one of those million people into a court room in the US and get the same kinds of damages from each one, and they wouldn’t need to rig a judge or jury or do anything else as some of the more paranoid think they do.

Honestly, I think the law would be much better off if copyright holders like the RIAA could file “Reverse class-action” lawsuits and simply have 50,000 people tried at the same time, judged and convicted at the same time, and then forced to split the resulting fines between them. In that scenario, charging 80k per song wouldn’t be a jaw-dropping figure like it is now.

It certainly wouldn’t be any more of a hassle (or circus) than what we the taxpayers are currently footing the bill for.
Raeglatem

HAHAHA the money will not go to the artists… regardless of how the money comes in, it never gets to the artist. If you know one personally, big or small, ask them how much they make. You’ll cringe.
Dave

In Canada it is perfectly legal to download anyone’s music for free from bit torrent sites and what have you, you just cannot share it.
Pico

It was never about the artists and it will never be.
Anonymous

CRUEL AND UNUSUAL.
Crazy Dave

@80 – Bit torrent is sharing you crazy fool!
anon

Where the fuck did they find such a jury? Probably a bunch of white trash rednecks living in trailers, angry with the world.
Anonymous

This is one of the main reason why the World’s system is corrupt! Spent millions on persecuting a single mother of 4 for downloading a crummy MP3 format bad quality compressed music, while the BANKERS and US Governments who has stolen billions are allowed to walk free! Talk about screwed up priorities!
Herp a Derp

trolllled haha
How about this for a raid?

How about something like this, completely bombard the official fansites, websites and record company sites of the artists in question with emails such as the one below.

A complete organised bombing of the email accounts in question. It’s not illegal and if enough people joined in maybe the message would get through. The real trick would be to get enough real fans to do it as well. Who could then go on to do real life demos at gigs for publicity that would be damaging to the artist’s public image ;)

And if it doesn’t work, just DDOS the crap outta the sites instead… lol

Dear Janet Jackson etc,

Some years ago one of your music fans ,Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a mother of four, downloaded from the internet one of your songs. She is now faced with a fine of $62,500 ( a total of $1.5 million for 24 songs ) for that unauthorised download.

As you can imagine it would be impossible for her to pay such an unrealistic sum. Even if she were able to pay the fine it has been decided that you the artist will receive nothing and the RIAA will keep every cent for themselves.

We are a loyal group of your fans and we are asking that you help put pressure on the RIAA by publicly condemning this outrageous action and ask that it be dismissed. We ask that you show solidarity with your fans and that you do not seek to alienate us.

Your fans…
British tangent.

Its a shame this kind of misjustice does not make prime time news,imagine peoples reactions if this was on bbc news here in the uk.Mind you,in my opinion,i think even the news prob gets vetted before broadcast.
Anonymous

“[Ed. note. No surprises here, given the contents of the jury instructions and verdict form. The only surprises are that (a) the judge felt it necessary to have a predictably futile third trial, (b) the judge refused to instruct the jury that the statutory damages must bear a reasonable relationship to the actual damages, which is a fundamental tenet of the law regarding copyright infringement, and (c) the judge has so far declined to reach the constitutional issue which is staring him in the face. It also seems odd to me that the judge had not instructed the jury that plaintiffs had proved a copying -- i.e. a download -- but not a "distribution" as defined in the Copyright Act. -R.B.]”

Source: Ray Beckerman http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/

And somebody is going to tell me that the judge is not corryupted!
Anonymous

I was reading some of comments at StarTribune.com

Here are some juicy parts:
1. People at least are much more aware that they can be tracked and caught, and that should serve as a greater deterrent than a few years ago when everyone thought everything was “free” on the Internet.
2. Of course she wont pay it. She didn’t pay for the songs then
she surely isnt going to pay for them now! She is from the “ME Generation” where nothing matters except ME and MY money. People like her make me nauseatingly sick!
3. Anyone who says it’s unfair has never had their music stolen, and it’s soooo easy for you to just share it isn’t it?
4. YOU CAN’T DOWNLOAD AND SHARE MUSIC FOR FREE. And then cry about it later when you’re sued.
5. Ruining a mothers life? How about ruining a musicians life because he can’t sell his CD because YOU’VE SHARED IT WITH EVERYONE FOR FREE.
6. She should have accepted the settlement deal with the second trial (for $25K). She wasted the court’s time by taking this back AGAIN and trying to continuously reduce the amount owed. I agree that it is beyond unreasonable, but when you’re told to pay $1.9 Million and the RIAA offers you an out for $25K, take it and run!
—————————–
Truth be told I dont’ have any expectations from the US where nearly half the US population believes the earth is less than 10,000 years old
Freedom

To the RIAA:
Absolute power corrupts absolutely…

To the populace:
Fight for your freedom! The moment you take it for granted, it will be gone like the wind…

May God be with this poor woman.
ahem

-Money doesnt go to the artists.
-Jamie doesnt have 1.5m
-Taxpayers foot the bill in the end.
-Appeals have been running back and forth for ages now, so long that Kazaa isnt even used anymore.
-Lawyers get it all.
-RIAA has lost many customers due to the bad publicity.

So at the end of the day, what’s solved and who benefits?

Straight from the horse’s mouth:
“The RIAA participates in the collection, administration and distribution of music licenses and royalties.”

How DO you live with yourself, Mr Bainwol?
chekr

@51 (Ven)

You’re an idiot. As I pointed out in my other comment (4), pirates aren’t actually depriving you of anything. To say that they are merely demonstrates your complete lack of knowledge in the field of technology.

If you say that they’re ‘stealing’ profit that others could, potentially, have had, then everyone in the world is ‘guilty’ of this (even though, as I already pointed out, it’s impossible to steal money that only exists in the future of an alternate dimension where the artist/business made more money)! If you do so much as not buy a product, you’ve stolen profit that the creator could, potentially, have had if you would have bought it!

What’s broken is this illogical capitalistic society that forces you to obtain worthless paper in order to function in it. Fix that, and artists will no longer ‘suffer’. To blame it on pirates, who aren’t logically taking anything, truly shows your ignorance of basic logic and the lack of thought that you put into this.
Anonymous

“Its a shame this kind of misjustice does not make prime time news”

Because prime time news is owned by the corporations of criminals and entertainment parasites.

Fortunately the prime-time news is now irrelevant since nobody trust it and get their news from internet instead.
mack

in a serious argument, how can a court rule damages unconstitutional then a later court charges more? isnt that sorta against the law?
chekr

It appears that I responded to the wrong person. Sorry about that.
Anonymous

@78 Ven

This is a bunch of non-sense.

One can always make some BS like this to justify anything.

By parroting your pseudo legal shit I could easily justify the death penalty for all the entertainment executives including those at the RIAA, MPAA and the trolls they pay to pollute blogs on internet and spread misinformation.

Are you sure you want to go there?
Kaptain Krunch

Another judge high on glue. The system is seriously flawed and the icing on the cake is that they allow any idiot with a license to sit in a judges seat. What a system.
Anon

let’s kill all of the fucking corporate parasites!
Anonymous

I hop that the RIAA promised it’s lawyers 20% of the 1.5 million of dollar they will never receive!

Great job Jammie! You give them hell and at the end they are not going to get a single penny!

You make them look so bad that it is helping the boycott and the Ddosing.

An army of mad people already marching and growing is coming for them.

meanwhile I am going to go Ddos and fuck up the email system of one of these corporate parasite to honor an American hero and her great courage!

Jammie! you are my hero!
Anonym

I hoppe that the RIAA promised it’s lawyers 20% of the 1.5 million of dollar they will never receive!

Great job Jammie! You give them heellll and at the end they are not going to get a single penny!

You make them look so bad that it is helping the boycott and the D do sing.

An army of mad people already marching and growing is coming for them.

meanwhile I am going to go D do s and fucck up the email system of one of these corporate parrrasite to honor an American hero and her great courage!

Jammie! you are my hero!
Armo

LEGENDARY ASSHOLES
LOL

Face it, he’s not gonna be able to afford that so he can easily chapter 11. Therefore RIAA get nothing, and loose money with all the fees.

Fuck you RIAA. Retards.
Doink

Worlds Dumbest File Sharer – http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/04/jammie_thomas_third_time_unlucky/
Anonymous

RIAA’s pro-piracy message: “Pirate as many songs as you can so we can slap you with a fine that’s larger than all the money on Earth combined and make it impossible to convict.”
haa

hha only the land of the free could that happen
Reggit

1.5 million…..MILLION!!!

WTF!
‘monstrous and shocking’ =/
Canadian Pirate 4 Life

@48 (Nick)
You said exactly what I was thinking, but technically, she didn’t even “steal” them. Plus, I’m starting to wonder if the jury members were paid off by the RIAA. How do we know that each jury member has never dl’d anything? It’s pretty hard to find anyone that has NEVER downloaded a song/movie/show/software/etc. The jury should be ashamed of themselves for ruining her life. Shame on you jury! Burn in Hell RIAA! And the artists don’t even get a cent!!! Pathetic. Why are they even paying to have the RIAA’s support?? I’m so confused…I think I’m going to download another album and try to understand this a little further.
froggy

this is just insane.

it’s criminal!
Gavin

I wonder if it’s possible to declair your self bankrupt, so the fine is wiped. Then rent for a few years, then start again wone your credit recored has recovered?

I think though when you declair your self bankrupt the prococuter can claim your assets such as your house. Is this right?
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Lol

Dear god, this is pure bullshit.

Fuck the RIAA, those money leeching whores.
what the fuck

These people are the definition of “monsters”. Whether or not you feel like Jammie should be held accountable for downloading those 24 songs, you’ve gotta have a heart made of ice to feel that a $1.5 million verdict is justified. Fuck these guys so hard…
lol

It’s clear this was a hand picked judge and jury who no doubt all got kick backs from free vacations to a new car.
Anonymous

lol @ butthurt pirates.

oh noes – ddosing the riaa site. Who cares, who even visits their site.

way to feel like big men on the internet and still be as impotent as you ever were.

losers.
ax

Good thing I didn’t get caught, It would have cost me more than a billion dollars! :0
markie

I hope that the RIAA go bankrupt big time. Trying to pick on a single person.

I hope Anonymous attack the RIAA again.
Anonymous

@115

stupid comment!

and by the way, the only losers are the maffia and their network of crooks…
GrX

what only 1.5 million i’d of thought they’d of gone for something at least in i don’t know lets say the 1 billion dollars mark muwahaha.

i don’t’ know where they get their jury from they are certainly not normal every day citizens that’s for sure
Anonymous

This is a victory for Jammie. She’ll never have to pay the $1.5 million, the verdict is going to be appealed again, and the RIAA now looks even more psychotically out of touch with reality than it did before.

And filesharers are just going to fileshare even harder in retaliation.

Also, love how the RIAA says they won’t give one cent to the “poor and improvrished” artists that they’re suing Jammie in the name of. That makes them look EVEN BETTER!
Anonymous

1.5 million for 24 songs?????

You would walk into a record shop and steal every record in the store, tens of thousands of CD’s, and get off with less punishment…

downloading = copying, copying != stealing!!
Antonio Montana

This is Tony Montana, chico, and this kinda shit happen in dis country? Meng.. that is messed. I only got one thing to say.

FUCK THE MPAA!!!
FUCK THE RIAA!!!
FUCK THE SUITS BEHIND THE BSA!!!
AND FUCK EM ALL FOR THE DMCA!!!

And they can say hello to our little friends one day.
Ven

@98:

Whoa now, I didn’t say I agreed with it, or that it is right. However, that is the way our law is written. That is why a premium is paid in the USA for lawyers who can, as you say, “parroting pseudo legal shit” the best.

While I really am in favor of creative control and copyright law, I know better than to come here (your guys’ house) and troll. I was merely trying to explain the logic of this ruling made by this judge (who I would bet money was neither high nor paid off by the RIAA to make this call). Rulings like this one are made here in the U.S. all the time…

@88:

I don’t know how effective that letter would be, seeing as how those artists are contracted to the label that took this woman to court to begin with.

No matter how poorly labels financially abuse their artists, it is still worse to breach contract saying something stupid and end up paying millions yourself.

Artists are by and large incapable of taking down their own labels (even when they do something wrong). Most people know the story of Prince, but there are other artists who suffer just as much at the hands of their labels. Jojo for instance was kept in limbo, unable to release from contract or record albums. Years of a pop career that depends on publicity in her teen years, tied up because the label decided to. She finally won a release from her label, but who knows if she will be able to come back from it.
Anonymous

Artists suing record labels

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/735096–geist-record-industry-faces-liability-over-infringement
Anonymous

old link
SolRayz

The neo-fascists corporate tools like the RIAA would arrest us all if they could…just keep that mind people. The RIAA gives us no choice but to boycott it and the whole music INDUSTRY into oblivion. Long live file SHARING and long live indie and the underground movements.
Anon

All hail the great RIAA!!!
Brudda

“These cases create awareness about the consequences illicit file-sharing may have, the group argues.”
They also create a tremendous amount of animosity towards the record industry and Hollywood. Personally, I would like to thank the RIAA for inspiring me to get off my 47 year-old butt and learn how to file share. Now I know what a static IP address is, I know how to forward a port, and I have GB’s worth of music and video to enjoy for free. Thank you RIAA!

(Anyone who shares Journey songs deserves to get fined for millions of dollars…)
Anon

This is disgusting! Makes me sick to my stomach. Its a shame they can get away with this at others expense!
Scott

I could see going after random people in sweeps, charging them the $1 per song you’d pay on itunes. You have 1000 songs, they try to extract 1000 dollars from you for “stealing”. But 1.5 million…for 24 songs? Love to see the calculations on that number.
FuzzyX

$1.5 million for 24 songs is clearly unconstitutional. Makes you wonder how they can ever see it right in the original trials. Yes soon made unconstitutional again and reduced to something at least not total fiction.

Hearing Kazaa I find funny. You download something there and it drops automatically into your folder to keep sharing it. So the unaware can share stuff the ages without figuring out why.

Then they say none of this money goes to artists. This shows what thieves they are.

Not that they will get much from someone who made NO MONEY from file sharing. Should have been a slap on the wrist or $1 each song she downloaded.

Then most funny of all instead of getting these songs from her on Kazaa you could have recorded them from the radio.

File sharing forever.
America, America SCREAM AMERICA!

They should have made this fine all of $13.616 Trillion. Then they could have offered it to the US Government to pay off the national debt in one go.

Well it makes as much sense.

“Oh wait she can’t pay. We’re ruined!”
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Anonymous

The jury found her guilty of infringing the rights of Capitol Records and found a $62,500 fine per shared song to be an appropriate punishment. If recouped, the money will be invested in new anti-piracy campaigns.

@20, do you have any proof to back up your claim?

@58 Green Day – Basket case –> “We leaked the whole record before it came out,” said Green Day’s Mike Dirnt about their album 21st Century Breakdown. http://torrentfreak.com/piracy-and-the-music-industry-the-voices-of-artists-matter-101024/ (Why were they included in the lawsuit (thier music?) Acording to mafiaa, the song shared Basket Case is worth 1500000/24= 62,500 so
Green Day leaks their whole ablw and is ok, Girl in case shares one song and has to pay $62,500.
Why didn’t or doesn’t the defense use this information?

@111 The credit record is just saying you are going on a system that the powers that be want you to use. They are saying that you are “worthy” if you have good credit, etc. I have terrible credit as there is no jobs here, everything I purchased with my credit card was stollen, and I have 3 college degrees & I can’t find a job because everyone around here is a hillbilly & the internet is 56k. I have no money to go anywhere else and find a job and the bill collectors call and ask me for $. I tell them that it is impossible to get blood out of a rock so the most logical thing for them to do is help me find a job so that maybe I can pay them. They say its not their job to help me and demand money. I explained this to them twice and they don’t listen. Due to there being no broadband here also an no jobs, I sit on dial up everyday also and so when the bill collectors call, they get a buisy signal and even when I’m not on the internet, I don’t answer the phone because they call me. If I get their letters in the mail, they go straight to the paper shreader without reading them. Also the statue of limitatins (check for your state for credit cards) has passed so they are not getting crap anyway. I am not liable to pay them. Also I have terrible credit but I’m not planning on buying anything because its a scam anyway. Hope that helps.

@130, great post. The court has also ruled that inadvertent sharing you are not liable for so the defense needs to use this. An anon can help out finding the statements that say this as I searched google but maybe didn’t use the correct search terms. I have read the report saying this though before.
D2LV

SUE THE COURTS! WE’VE HAD ENOUGH!
Stupid american justice

She’ll declare bankruptcy and lose all her assets in the process. If she has a house, gone. Car, gone. For 26 stupid songs. I love how retarded america is.
anonymous

land of the free home of the brave my ass…

sorry america, the world points its finger at you and lulz
anon

lol ugly b!tch got 0wned! that’s what you get for using kazaa. now go wh0re yourself out to make a living, you dumb pathetic waste.
anon

Hate to repeat a cliche’,but America has no “justice system” it has “just a system”, poeple with lots of money love it this way, since it is all about how much “justice” you can buy.
John Down

They should start using monkeys in the courtrooms, they will make a lot more sense than those brainwashed, senseless citizen capable to handing out a sentence like that.

Forget the punishment, ruined lives, riaa and the artists. So many people reaching such a decision is just wrong and worrying for the future of human specie.
Johnny

From article: “These cases create awareness about the consequences illicit file-sharing may have, the group argues.”

These cases make me HATE the RIAA so much that I am more convinced then ever never to pay for their music ever again.
Anonymous

wtf this is disgusting a woman with 4 children how inhumane this is defiantly not justice it is greed and her childrens lives will never be the same again way to go RIAA
Cujo

bet ya 10 bucks to your 2 that she still grabs a couple a shares when she can ;)
Brandon

Riaa can lick my balls! I am never buying a plastic shit cd again. I am throwing out my cd/dvd players anyway and goind hdd. Suck on that Riaa…
Anonymous

what if she declares Bankruptcy?

Damn, I’d rather go to jail than pay the fine, but she has children man…
Brandon

Riaa Throw away some more millions to pay your monkey lawyers to make more stupid cases and people hate you even more. I guess you don’t care about the REAL pirates that are selling Actual pirated dvds on the street. They are laughing at you right now because you have to pay monkeys to harrass innocents while THEY are making money selling pirated dvds on the street corners…. Dumbassess…
Le Fake

I bet they try to make the jury believe that the damages come mostly from her sharing the songs to a few people who then shared it forward and thus increased the damages caused exponentially.

The crazy thing with copyright/P2P related rulings is that they are pretty god damn wild in proportion to e.g. what someone can get for dealing crack to children.
Brandon

Meanwhile the artist is getting banged in the ass and not getting a penny cuz you have to pay your dumbass staff for no actual reason…
Anonymous

From article: “These cases create awareness about the consequences illicit file-sharing may have, the group argues.”

These cases make the case that we have to put bullet holes in all these corporate parasites and we will.
Brandon

Riaa=Fail wanna be office bitches trying to steal money from Real artists to make their paychecks. The artists should stand up for themselves too instead of having a dick in their mouth…
Anonymous

She’ll declare bankruptcy and lose all her assets in the process. If she has a house, gone. Car, gone. For 26 stupid songs. I love how retarded america is.

No this is incorrect. With chapter 7 total liquidation of debt if she has an house as a primary residence she can keep it. Same with the car. Her husband and her can keep a car each. Each of this children can keep a car too. She can keep also her retirement plan (401K and so forth. . .) if she has one.

So this is not that bad. Her credit record will be hit but so many people have bad credit in this economy that I doubt that this will matter in her case.
RIAA

We need that 1.5 million to pay the trolls in our amen corner.

Good work, boys! Here’s a shiny new penny for each of you! <3
JD

OK, time to get my stash of blank CDs out, burn them 24 songs and scatter them all around town.
RIAA sucks my dick

These RIAA motherphuckers ain’t humans. They’re more than scums came from an alien planet
Che

1.5Millions for 24 songs ? Thank god i am not american loool all world is smilling about you fools :)
AnarchyNow

State, justice, and the whole capitalist system is for the MAFIAA, it’s a gigantic scam, like jesus, there’s nothing to expect within the system, the only solution is REVOLUTION!
Mutu

When i read this i really can understand why some peoples why hijack planes and fly into buildings lol :) the life of this woman is really fucked up now… she got 4 childs… :(
Reality Check

BAAAAAWWWWWWW. People are still gettting sued and your DDOS attacks have ZERO influence on the legal arm of these companies. Society at large does not know what Operation Payback is. No-one outside of TorrentFreak and 4chan cares, get real.
An

#156

Ok, get real…

http://remember5.tk

gL
Anonymous

“In the land of the freeeeee… and the home of the braaaaveeee”

Not!!

It goes like this nao:
“In the land of the reeeeetaards… and the home of the asscloooowns”
hahahahaaha
Reality Check

@157 – Is this going to be a one off protest or a continued operation? Feel free to protest but this while notion of “overthrowing capitalism” is a bit farfetched. DDOSing has been ineffective so what is the next step if protesting doesn’t work?
Nov 5th

Why do fags like you keep saying ddosing is ineffective?

http://torrentfreak.com/acslaw-anti-piracy-law-firm-torn-apart-by-leaked-emails-100925/
mike

when digital protesting doesn’t work..
perhaps you should also try physical protesting..with digital protesting?

acting both as independent groups? as so one group can not be blamed for the others actions?
An

@159 In Spain at least, we will fuck them all what we can until they listen to us. If they don’t listen us, only then, we will see how to protest.

So while you are behind your keyboard doing nothing we shout, attack or whatever it takes to defend our mind.

Of course it’s easier say that protest is useless…

I repeat, gL

Coward
Sean

Give her a $500.00 fine and be done with it. That’s ridiculous. The songs didn’t cost $62,500 to make…does she do prison time if she can’t pay?
Anonymous

If the RIAA can get 1.5 million for 24 songs, there must be someone out there sharing upwards of 1000 songs that they could find and get over a billion dollars from!
Anon

This calls for violence, nobody deserves this.

Someone needs to get hurt, on the RIAA side. Eye for an Eye, life for a life.
Zo

@160 On a grand scale; i.e., changing the law, DDOSing has done nothing. So one company has been shamed following a technical error, there are hundreds more.
Anonymous

good for her that a hyperinflation is on its way, so soon she can just pay that 1.6 million
Jeff

Hollow victory for the RIAA/Capitol Records: they will likely not even see one penny from the $1.5 million judgement. That is if her lawyers fail to get the judgement reduced for being too excessive.
Anonymous

WE ARE RETARDS
WE ARE A GROUP OF RETARDED KIDS
EXPECT RETARDED
CAnadianp2p

move to canada this shit will never happen because its legal to download
whipped

Thats freedom!
Chemich

For one thing, she could at least have shared a better taste in music. I mean some of the songs are okay but they’re not incredibly amazing.

Also she should NOT have to pay for other people possessing the song, simply her possessing the song illegally herself. Which is $1 per song. They should target the individuals separately that downloaded the song. But the oh so mighty and lazy RIAA wants to ruin lives over shit that doesn’t even matter.

Most Artists don’t even make money on record sales, they do concerts for this very reason. It’s not like the music industry hasn’t figured out a way to get around the fact that piracy is possible.

The RIAA only benefits themselves, and never gives back to the Artists. They should not be given the authority to ever fine anyone, maybe a slap on the wrist but these people are honestly abusing their power in whole.

If Obama wants to do something that can help people, lift these ridiculous charges, and sever the RIAA completely.

Charging one individual that much cash for a few mediocre songs, what a terrible thing to do in any case.

I can understand if it was a foreigner selling music illegally, without a license. But a US citizen simply trying to share music to others for non profit? How ignorant, smite the RIAA.
Anonymous

“the RIAA told TorrentFreak that if they manage to recoup any of the damages, it will not go to the artists but will instead be used to fund new anti-piracy campaigns.”

Here is the actual statement. The Artists are just a tool.
that guy

I guess the 24k doesn’t looks so bad now
Doink

@ 169 CAnadianp2p

+1

Oh Canada
The true north strong and FREE
Pete

Things like this made a pirate out of me in the first place,especially when I know this money doesn’t go to the artists.

@RIAA Arschlöcher
Salad

This is the funnies thing I’ve ever read before. The RIAA must think they have reached a godlike status or something. There are so many flaws in this case. I could see this going a long way before it finally gets dismissed as garbage.
Bob

What I dont get is all the people crying about fighting for your freedom. What freedom? The freedom to commit crimes without being caught? How bizarre. I accept that the damages claim is a foolish waste, but that does not give anyone the right to commit crimes. If you cant afford the music you dont deserve to have it.
Anonymous

that is just beyond patheticism,1half million spuds for sharing 24 songs? OH PLZ!!!! are these people on the same planet “HELLOOOO” ? only in america yeh? nothing against americans just the justice system there is pretty much pete tong’d those jurors were well passing a blunt round
Jordan

I get the idea of what the judge is trying to do. Stop people from sharing copyright material but charging them 1.5m is totally out of order. That will stick to the kids and there kids and will follow on. 500 would have been enough.

The world justice system is totally wrong. Yet people who drink drive or do drugs get nothing compared to this.
anonymous

MEET YOUR STRAWMAN – LEGAL FICTION

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME7K6P7hlko
me

Let’s resume: in Iran, women get lapidated for adultery and in the US, people get Taliban-style treatment for sharing 24 mp3′s (wtf?!).

Frankly, I see no difference between these countries: both’s methods of punishment are totally disproportionate to the alleged “crime”. And still, they both claim the high ground on morality etc… That’s simply disgusting.
ilikelamb

what would have happened to her if she was caught stealing the music from a music store….caught with 2 cds……..much less than a $1.5 million fine one would think
Justice For The People

These god damm government bendecho’s just wait until they piss off the wrong people and then they get hacked :)
Jeff

If she were accused of sharing the same number of songs in Germany, the amount she would have had to pay would have only been about $500 (€15/$21 per song).
doedoe

$1.5 million… Hmmmm… She should have told the court that it would look better if they rounded the figure to $5 million… or $10 million. or how about $50 million? :)
SomeGuy

LOL.. So out of that 1.5M.. Each offended artist gets 1c…. 24c owed to the artist… But lets be alittle less…. Say they paid 60c to each artist…. $14.40 owed to the artist…. lol… See something wrong it. I wonder just how many artist really know that someone is being sued for them ? Or is that just a standard contract small print deal…
Reality Check

So you’re brave for protesting and DDOSing? Wow, congratulations, do you want a medal for that? Let’s be serious, you’re not attacking anyone. If it ever gets to that stage the police will interpret your “movement” as a threat and will be far more reluctant to freely permit public demonstrations.

How was the protest by the way? Any media attention?
MD3

$ 62.500 per song? With songs costing $ 0.99 in a virtual store?

What is the logic in this?

Did they just pull that figure from their ASS???

Those bastards are buying your courts… You americans should be ashamed.
Ven

@161:

The DDoS attacks on ACS were not the primary cause of the file-leaks. Whoever handled their site/server in such a way that allowed those files to be there in the first place is directly responsible. A power outage or hardware failure could have done the exact same thing, it just happened to be a DDoS attack.

That being said, I do think DDoSing is eventually going to give governments and lobbyists enough ammo to pass laws to deal with VPNs and proxy servers in foreign countries.
Reality Check

189 is @163
An

@189 / @192 No, but at least I did something. What did you do? USA is not Spain and our gov can be threaten without going to jail (maybe punished) like in your country. And if you are arrested or punished, What’s the matter? You are fighting for your rights…

If you don’t want rights and reject them nobody, much less the gov, is gonna fight for your freedom…

Suggest something, move!, but do not belittle what others are doing while you aren’t doing nothing.
rexcon

that’s what you get for stealing music. good. i hope there is way more of this (with more reasonable fines) in the future. music piracy has to come to an end. help feed the artists.
me

rexcon, you’re another one who can’t make the difference between copying and stealing. When a thief steals a file from you, you lose access to that file. When a file sharer copies one of your files, you still own that file, and nothing was lost. On the contrary, music isn’t stolen, it is (widely) propagated… which is good, because music wants to be free.

Again, please don’t confuse copyright infrigement with stealing.
Idiots —- Why?

I think we need to exploit who the jurors are … then send personal letters to them telling em how much of jackasses they are

We need a massive movement against the judge too … send countless letters (millions) to HIS personal address and call his ass 24-7 for months …
Marcus

Lol at all afraid pirates.

I love filesharing, but only when the musician and everyone else that worked to create that music allows it.

Cause you see, unauthorized filesharing is wrong, and illegal.

Hope you all get sued. Bet you all share a lot more than 24 songs.
Marcus

Oh,

And the defendant is an idiot. She was offered a settlement of $25,000 which would go to charity. And she rejected it. And asked for a retrial.
Reality Check

@193 – The larger the scale of criminal activity, the larger the response by corporations, lobbyists and the government. It is an inexorable progression of law to combat the growing problem of copyright infringement that is only happening because the current methods are ineffective. There are plenty of media available for free on the internet, yet people continue to steal what is copyrighted. If the artists get x% of the profits then that is a matter of private business, which the artist obviously felt was a decent term, else they would not have signed the contact. The RIAA proposed this exorbitant fine and the jury felt it was acceptable, end of case.

It isn’t even just P2P, it’s people committing electronic crimes, such as DDOSing and terrorism, that gives lobbyists more power to influence governments to monitor telecommunications. If anything, join those protesting against the erosion of civil liberties under the guise of the “terrorist threat”, not in promotion of overlooking what is a clear mass infringement of the law.
abs

To motherphucking faggots like Marcus and rexcon… we can understand your reasoning. Guess what? You’re right!

Yeah right: Record Labels Face $6 Billion Damages for Pirating Artists
http://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-face-60-billion-damages-for-pirating-artists-091207/

But shouldn’t they be suing their own asses as well?
anon

rexcon (Reasoned.Mind)
Marcus (neo.styles)

Welcome back to TF!
karate

Hey neoshit and Reasoned Fag

LOL I can’t wait to see the day where
record companies no longer produce any music and goes bankrupt. Life is not bored without shitty music. We can always stick to gaming :)
me

#197 Marcus: “Cause you see, unauthorized filesharing is wrong, and illegal.”

Helping Jews in Nazi Germany and most parts of Nazi-occupied Europe was illegal too… what would you have done when facing the dilemma to obey unjust laws or to break them and act like a Mensch?

Just because there are some insane laws out there doesn’t mean we have to obey them to the letter. Especially not BAD laws.
Ninja

I dunno if I get enraged with this or if I lol ironically. What was said in the comments here is true. All they accomplished here, as in the other cases, is to make ppl feel outraged and make them even more inclined to piracy, or rather, file sharing as it should be called.

Not to mention that they won’t see a penny from the money while they will ruin an innocent life. Oh but there’s a limit, someday it’ll backfire hard at them, we just need to wait. They are doing a good job rising the awareness AGAINST them.
Marcus

@201 abs

You are right. If they infringed someone’s copyright, they should pay for it. I’m not for the big companies. I’m for the people that work hard to make music people love.

@204 me

That argument could be made for everything that is illegal. Such as murder.

Actually, you won’t find a bundestag law about it. Guess killing jews was illegal.

And it does not tell nothing about filesharing being wrong.

Oh. Godwin’s law on you. you lost.
Anonymous

The real crime here is that people still use kazaa.
Toasty

“The RIAA sees these cases not as a means to recoup money.”

Then, why are they asking for $1.5 million?

Oi, so much hypocrisy here.

Sadly, suits. You’re not gonna see any money from this person.
Harquebus

They can sue me all they like. I am at the bottom of the economic heap and you can’t get blood out of a stone.
Anonymous

Marcus

Copying ain’t stealing and sharing is caring

nothing wrong about filesharing, it propagates and popularize creative works
djc

I happen to live in the twin cities area and can see how this happened. This area simply has way too many misinformed conformists.

You can bet that the juries in all 3 hearings were hand picked to sway the results.

I wish I could have been on that jury. She is being used as a pawn by the industry to make a statement and are taking advantage of the legal system with their immense financial stronghold.

From the local paper:

http://www.startribune.com/local/106707273.html
Tomas

I totally agree with them about their message that “If you share files then this could be you”. I mean, right before filesharing I often think “Oh, what if I am in that 0.000001% of people who end up getting fined?”.

And to concur with others, this is in no way justifiable. If it was me in that position I would just leave the country. How are they getting their money then?
Whatever

@58 thelist
You will be sued now. MoS probably has the copyright for the tracklist.
Anonymous

Sue me, i dare ya. I’ll come to your house. It will be the most downloaded movie ever.
Been Here Before

Attn: TorrentFreak editors,

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but please don’t use the phrase “guilty verdict” when talking about civil-court litigation in the U.S. In these courts, there’s no such thing as a “verdict” of guilt or innocence; there’s only a “finding” of liability and an “award” of damages.

This isn’t splitting hairs; the state has not made a case against anyone, nor proven beyond reasonable doubt that any crime has been committed. Rather, one party (the plaintiff) filed suit against another (the defendant) alleging she was responsible, in some way, to some degree, for infringing upon their copyrights, and thus should be found liable for the “irreparable harm” their business suffered, and should be required to pay a commensurate amount of money within the range of statutory damages allowed by law.

Also it’s an overstatement to characterize the 3rd trial as an “appeal” of the 2nd trial or even as a “re-retrial”. The 3rd trial’s only purpose was to get a new damage figure from a jury, because the judge’s reduced award was simply rejected by the plaintiffs, and court-overseen settlement negotiations failed; the court had no choice but to get another jury in to reassess damages.
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Andrew

The principal I hate about this is the idea that a downloaded song equates to lost revenue – it doesn’t.

I argue the vast majority of p2p users download music/films that they would never willingly pay for, thereby making the ‘lost revenue’ argument almost irrelevant.
InterWebz

Didn’t someone else get a stupid amount like this before but the higher courts decided that it went against “cruel and usual punishment” or something?
Danny Dogg

Thats why i never download songs, only whole albums XD
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anon2

Who decides on these amounts of money? How about if little old lady steals a jar of wrinkle cream and a Frank Sinatra CD and gets stung for $3 billion.

A kid steals 3 CDs and gets a $2 million dollar fine.

What would they get?

They would probably get a small fine or something minor. Luckily they didn’t download them. Then they MIGHT have paid those huge amounts.

What the hell kind of law suddenly creates these preposterous out of proportion sentences.

$1.5 million for 24 songs? Two albums are worth that much fine?

This is just absurd.

Can the law be used to make examples of people out of all proportion to the supposed misdeed?

If so, why not get $3 billion for the old lady and $2 million from the kid. If you can justify one absurd legal penalty why not another!
Midnic

Once again, thank you Metallica…
nexus

Hey people who live in USA, instead of talking shit here and wasting your breath, GO to the courtroom and support her REALLY! Your bitching here doesnt help anyone.
Operation Payback

Anybody got the names of all the juries?

$62,500 per song “appropiate”

I bet all of them download music online, those bastards.

It’d be cool to fuck them all up in some way they end up owing about $62k each so they think about what’s “appropiate” for downloading shitty RIAA songs.
rexconisahomo

its easy for the autorities to bully the ‘small guys’. lets face it they’re not getting much luck tackling the ‘big guns’ as of late. =P
Markus

No company would spend $$$ on a case if it had 0% chance of recouping costs, especially millions.

This courtcase is a BS publicity stunt pulled by the RIAA to say “Hey, this is what will happen to you if you fileshare”. Either involving crooked judges, or bent lawyers

Both sides must be funded by the RIAA.

Doesn’t RIAA own torrentfreak?
Modelcitizen

I am amazed and shocked by this theater performance they call justice. The fine is outrageous, Jammie should be sending them a bill for advertising their shit on any site in the first place. So citizens, time to rock the boat, let’s unite and ruin RIAA and Capitol Records. If we agree on a global basis not to buy anything from Capital Records for a month they will be “Deadbroke Records”. And RIAA, a cancerous growth that finds itself more important than the key mission it should serve. Let’s cut it out or irradiate it. Let’s give them so much bad publicity that they are shut down.
crazy horse

So they are charging this girl that much money, basically destroying her life…. What a shame! They let mob-bosses murderers and other criminals on the loose and they choke a young woman. Tsk, tsk, tsk,… is that justice? In addition to that: she shared how many songs… 24? Ow that’s a lot *sarcasm allover*. Well maybe it would be interesting to lookup each of those songs on youtube and see how many times they’re being watched or downloaded over there. Maybe google can donate 1$ per viewing of those songs on youtube to Jammie to help her out. She is innocent. Last point to mention: the ISP’s what do THEY think? They’re SELLING people 20GB/100GB/unlimited download per month, what do they expect? That this is consumed just surfing and reading e-mail? It’s like putting the cat next to the milk. Come’on be honest, they must know that their customers are using that capacity for downloading songs or movies among others. So in my opinion they’re just as guilty.
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Analorgy

File sharing not file downloading. The settlement was dropped to $57,000. Name one case where a downloader was sued and succesfully made to pay any settlement. The RIAA has been losing so much money on lawyers fees and bad will that music labels are going bankrupt. The RIAA losee big every lawsuit.

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RIAA Wins Big Against File-Sharer, $1.5M for 24 Songs

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