12-year olds mother settles for $2000

[Pebbles100]

One Sued File-Sharer Settles With RIAA ... 260 To Go
09.09.2003 7:24 PM EDT

Less than 24 hours after the RIAA announced that 261 people would be slapped with lawsuits for illegally downloading music, one of them has settled.

Manhattan resident Sylvia Torres, who was sued for copyright infringement by the Recording Industry Association of America, settled with the organization for $2,000, according to an RIAA spokesperson.

Only Sylvia Torres said she wasn't the one who put more than 1,000 copyrighted songs, unlawfully obtained through Kazaa, up for grabs from the family computer's hard drive — it was her 12-year-old daughter.

"We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal," Torres said in a statement issued by the RIAA. "You can be sure [my daughter] Brianna won't be doing it anymore."

In the press conference held Monday (September 8) to announce that the lawsuits had been filed, RIAA President Cary Sherman forecasted situations in which the recipient of the lawsuit may not necessarily be the one committing the crime. He said that the message that file-sharing was illegal and punishable would nonetheless be heard (see "RIAA Files First Round Of Lawsuits Against Subpoena Targets").

"I am sorry for what I have done," the seventh grader said in the statement. "I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love."

The RIAA obtained Torres' name and address by issuing a subpoena to her Internet service provider, which could only surrender information on the subscriber. Often the subscriber may not be the offender, especially in the case of minors.

Torres' settlement comes in direct opposition to statements she made to New York's Daily News Monday. She told the paper she thought the lawsuit was "ridiculous" and vowed to get a lawyer to fight it.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1478036/20030909/index.jhtml?headlines=true

[Kooperman]

In a statement released by the RIAA....I got a dollar that says they didn't pay a dime. The RIAA was doing some fast fixing of a PR disaster.

[Mr. Mainstream]

i hate to say this but me thinks they got off lightly . compared to others. but 21 is understandable but 12?

[The Hunter]

Originally posted by Kooperman
In a statement released by the RIAA....I got a dollar that says they didn't pay a dime. The RIAA was doing some fast fixing of a PR disaster. i wont take that bet, as i think you are right on the money.

[Ken17625]

The whole article sounds very odd...............almost as though every statement was rehearsed..................oh wait, it is.

[Wolfie]

Considering that the source of the news is the mtv website (the RIAA's undisputed b*tch), I'm not totally convinced.

[rainbowdemon]

Originally posted by Kooperman
In a statement released by the RIAA....I got a dollar that says they didn't pay a dime. The RIAA was doing some fast fixing of a PR disaster. How does that fix anything. Didn't the article say that they lived in public housing? That sounds like they might be low-income. Now I have nothing against this. But
"settling" for that kind of money with people that most likely don't have it? Sounds like more of a disaster.

[Omyn]

Only that much huh, looks like for every innocent person who gives you bad PR that person gets a 85% discount on all legal fees.

Breaks out the coupon book.

[FutureIverson]

good post, yeah i think there was some deals on both sides. I wanted to collect money to help the poor family fight the riaa. Sold their souls to the devil

[Kooperman]

Originally posted by rainbowdemon
How does that fix anything. Didn't the article say that they lived in public housing? That sounds like they might be low-income. Now I have nothing against this. But
"settling" for that kind of money with people that most likely don't have it? Sounds like more of a disaster.
They have to say they got a settlement....if they just let that one go free they'd have to let them ALL go for nothing.

[Pebbles100]

I'm glad I got you guys' feedback...this article seemed really strange to me. But then again, I read into things too much sometimes :)

[Omyn]

Some people should get a website together and have people donate money to people like this 12 yr old girl or old man to fight the riaa or pay off the legal fees.

All expenses would go to RIAA victims, i dont know tell me what you think i dont know if it has been posted somewhere before.

Almost like the 9/11 relief fund..

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Here's AOL members' take:

Do you equate downloading illegally with shoplifting a CD?

85% No 93,345
15% Yes 16,377
Total votes: 109,722

What would most effectively curb music piracy?

53% Lower CD prices 58,810
34% Nothing, it's too late 37,841
7% Better pay services 7,706
6% Threat of prosecution 6,933
Total votes: 111,290

I happened to vote with the majority.

[Wolfie]

Originally posted by rainbowdemon
Now I have nothing against this. But
"settling" for that kind of money with people that most likely don't have it? Sounds like more of a disaster.

I hate to admit it but it could have have been worst for them. A larger sum would have put them in debt to next ten years or so. Also I'm sure they would not ask for 2000 in one payment consider how the poor the family is. I'm sure some sort of payment plan has been worked out (assuming the whole story is not BS to begin with).

However you look at it though it still sounds like dog and pony show to benefit RIAA's public image.

[IshareManyFilez]

Nice poll. Thats very intresting to see so many exclusive aol members vote no on that. Considering most aol users are 56kers, and many record companies are affiliated with aol time warner.

[dmbfan1103]

Well, if i am correct about today's court system
can't others use this case in their favor.

for example,
if the RIAA tries to sue me and tries to get a dime more than $2000 can't i bring the case up with the 12 yr old girl and use it to my favor.
i could say that in a similiar case the RIAA settled for $2000 and that they are obligated to settle that amount with me.

just an idea,
please put your input in and tell me what you think?

[PuNiShErKiLl666]

Totally fake article from the RIAA.... THAT IS SICK!

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

From the New York Times:

Executives Can See Problems Beyond File-Sharing
By NEIL STRAUSS


LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8 — Not long ago, the record industry's trade group issued an alarming statistic. Music shipments, it said, were down 15.8 percent in comparison with the previous year. The reason, according to the trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America, was in large part because of music downloaded on file-sharing services and music burned onto recordable CDs.

Shortly after, Universal Music announced that it would reduce wholesale prices on its CD's by several dollars in a move aimed at encouraging retailers to sell them for as little as $10 each.

The chief reason was once again the drain from unauthorized song-swapping online.

Today, the campaign became even more aggressive with the announcement that the beleaguered industry had filed lawsuits against 261 people for the unauthorized digital delivery of thousands of songs to other people on file-sharing services like KaZaA and Morpheus.

But interviews with executives at record labels, Internet companies and research companies revealed a much more complex array of problems facing the music business than just digital piracy.

"It's not all file-sharing," said Andy Gershon, the president of V2 Records, home to the recording artists Moby and the White Stripes. "I do think that right now, the business is sick but music is great."

Other record label executives agreed. Among the problems they cited were the consolidation of radio stations, making it harder to expose new bands and records, and the lack of a widely popular musical trend like teen-pop, which relied on stars like Britney Spears and `N Sync to drive young people to record stores.

They also blamed a poor economy and competition for the limited time and money of teenagers and young adults, their main customers, who often find that they prefer buying DVD's, video games, sneakers and more.

Indeed, thousands of music retail stores have closed recently, and the ones that are still open have given shelf space to competing products, like DVD's and video games.

In addition, the introduction of CD's in the early 1980's encouraged consumers to replace their vinyl records with copies in the new format, but that sales spike has since abated.

And as major record labels have become part of large international corporations, industry insiders say, less attention is being paid to discovering and marketing music properly.

"So many labels are in play — they're trying to be acquired or acquire another company or merge — so anything that affects their immediate balance sheet is slashed," one record-label executive said. "Money is not being put into marketing and A.& R. because people don't want to spend the money because it looks bad on the balance sheet."

As for unauthorized file-sharing and CD burning, no one interviewed doubted that it is a serious problem. But research from independent sources suggests that while file-sharing may indeed be hurting CD sales, the problem is not as drastic as it has been portrayed by the industry.

"You can't just draw a line from A to B and say that sales are down" because of unauthorized music downloading, said Josh Bernoff, the principal analyst for media and entertainment at Forrester Research.

For one thing, the specter of a 15.8 percent drop in shipments of CD's provided by the record industry illustrates only how many CD's record labels are sending to stores.

According to the sales-tracking company Soundscan, which monitors actual consumer behavior, music sales are down by 8.7 percent in comparison with this period last year, a significant but much smaller number.

Moreover, analysts said that there are two different types of people swapping songs online.

"We did a survey recently of both adults and young people and were able to identify two groups of downloaders," said Mr. Bernoff of Forrester. "One that reduced their CD purchases and one that didn't."

Within that universe, he estimated that the record industry is losing $700 million a year in CD sales because of file-sharing among both adults and teens.

Though that is a large number, even bigger figures have been bandied about by record-industry representatives. And, Mr. Bernoff noted, from 1999 to 2002, annual music sales have shrunk by a much larger figure: $2 billion.

A similar study by Jupiter Research produced similar findings: a survey of file-sharing users showed that 31 percent said that their spending on CD's had decreased while 16 percent said that they spent more on CD's after downloading music.

Since the rise about three years ago of the now-defunct Napster, the first popular file-swapping service, a culture has been created in which getting songs online is simply part of the music experience.

As a result, even sharply cutting the price of CD's, as Universal has proposed, may not necessarily be effective in bringing people back to record stores.

"Price isn't the issue," said Rob Lord, a creator of Muse.Net, a computer media player. "The issue is access, integration and ease of use."

Thus, the record industry has been moving on two fronts: one is aimed at lobbying the government and using the judicial system to make free file-sharing services illegal. And the other has been toward creating pay services to download music legally online.

So far, however, only one of these legitimate services has been viewed as a success, Apple's iTunes Music Store, which has sold more than 10 million songs despite being compatible with the computer systems of a thin sliver of PC users in the United States.

Still, even as legal downloading is expected to eventually become the predominant means of acquiring music, the CD is not necessarily disappearing anytime soon.

In 2008, according to Jupiter, online services like iTunes and Rhapsodyare expected to account for only 25 percent of music sales (as opposed to the 7 percent predicted for this year).

"The music industry needs to realize that they have a multiplatform future," said David Schatsky, a senior vice president at Jupiter Research.

Meanwhile, even if a music-piracy-free future of healthy retail and online music sales ultimately arrives, many worry that the scars left by the recording industry group's aggressive tactics against music fans will not heal as quickly.

"They're doing a lot to bring the business back," said Mr. Gershon, the record label executive, "but we might have lost a generation of consumers in the process."

[aqlo]

Thanks for this article Pebbles

No I can't find any truth here yet. What exactly happened in the real world will be a story in itself I bet.

Wonder how much that story will be worth? I smell a book for this little mother-daughter team.

[Wolfie]

Originally posted by dmbfan1103
Well, if i am correct about today's court system
can't others use this case in their favor.

for example,
if the RIAA tries to sue me and tries to get a dime more than $2000 can't i bring the case up with the 12 yr old girl and use it to my favor.
i could say that in a similiar case the RIAA settled for $2000 and that they are obligated to settle that amount with me.

just an idea,
please put your input in and tell me what you think?

It depends. Can you generate enough public sympathy as 12 year-old honor student living in public housing (who was also using a so called paid service too)?

The only reason for such low settlement is that this would have been PR nightmare for RIAA. I bet the treatment of less sympathy generating individuals (not referring to anyone in particular) would be a lot more harsher.

[FutureIverson]

Originally posted by Lord_of_the_Dense
Here's AOL members' take:

Do you equate downloading illegally with shoplifting a CD?

85% No 93,345
15% Yes 16,377
Total votes: 109,722

What would most effectively curb music piracy?

53% Lower CD prices 58,810
34% Nothing, it's too late 37,841
7% Better pay services 7,706
6% Threat of prosecution 6,933
Total votes: 111,290

I happened to vote with the majority.

Then again dense only two AOL dialup users have been sued by the riaa. and there the biggest ISP!

the shame is the riaa thinks they have sold less becuase people have become more relient on p2p, that's not true they have sold less because we boycott them.

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

LOL

[shawners]

with the amount of money of 2000, you can easily put it on your visa..
Internet connection 9.95 a month
Pc to browse music, 400.00
Free kazaa lite to download music. 2000.00
Being a stupid 12 year old girl. PRICELESS.

GO HOME TO Your mommy you spoiled little leecher.

[rainbowdemon]

Originally posted by Kooperman
They have to say they got a settlement....if they just let that one go free they'd have to let them ALL go for nothing. The riaa would...........lie?

[baghdad_steve15]

Originally posted by Pebbles100

"We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal," Torres said in a statement issued by the RIAA. "You can be sure [my daughter] Brianna won't be doing it anymore."


This is total bull. Lets say you got sued by George W Bush because you said he was an idiot (1st amendment i know, just ignore that) and made you pay him 2 grand. Would you let them quote you saying that your sorry? And the article mention they were in low-income housing where are they going to get 2 grand?

[Truncheon]

RIAA damage control!!!

[Ghostalker]

Settled or not (more corprate bullshit) they shouln'r have sued in the first place. She was downlong stuff like "Old MacDonald" and "Happy Birthday" I seriously doubt she is a threat to any business.

Im with Kooperman on this one, its just a ploy. The RIAA is probably paying them to keep their mouths shut about this

[Krell]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/963684.asp?vts=090920032000

[Aaron73153]

This is a PR article because its from MTV. MTV a real source for news? Plus they are nothing but a front for the RIAA and their pop-crap.

[The Upset File Sharer]

What I find strange about this particular case is...if they paid a fee to the site they were using, then how can they be held accountable for the content?

Shouldn't the site itself be held accountable for violating the copyright laws since they are charging people to download copywritten material?

[The Hunter]

Some thoughts from a journalist at a Canadiadn paper on the Riaa situation.
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030910.wbmath0910hom/BNStory/Front/

[The Hunter]

Now opinions from a US based paper. Note it would seem that customer relations is not a RIAA priority, not by a long shot.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/business/SiliconInsider/SiliconInsider.html

[Kooperman]

Originally posted by The Hunter
Now opinions from a US based paper. Note it would seem that customer relations is not a RIAA priority, not by a long shot.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/business/SiliconInsider/SiliconInsider.html
Great post hunter. The transparency of the RIAA motives is now being exposed to everyone......way to go, Cary and Hilary!

[Kooperman]

From the 9-10-03 NY Times:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

September 10, 2003
New Parent-to-Child Chat: Do You Download Music?
By AMY HARMON


Tamara Amey has tried to instill solid values in her daughter on everything from schoolwork to sex, but what Kyla Amey, 16, did on her computer was up to her. Or at least until Ms. Amey heard that the record industry was planning to sue Internet file swappers.

Last month, Ms. Amey ordered Kyla to delete the software she used to download popular songs without paying for them. But in their debate about online sharing and stealing, Ms. Amey sometimes feels more confused than confident.

"The Internet is so gray when you come to these kind of areas," Ms. Amey of Shelby Township, Mich., said after the lawsuits were filed. "When I was a kid, we used to tape music off the radio. You never heard of record companies suing people for that."

As the record industry filed a barrage of lawsuits on Monday against people who copy music over the Internet, many parents across the country were caught unaware, accused of condoning an illegal activity they do not know much about — and do not necessarily want to.

With the threat of hundreds more lawsuits, parents across the country say they are having to wrestle with unfamiliar digital-age ethics. Even for the rare parents whose computer skills match those of their children, the prospect can be daunting.

"This practice is illegal, but it's something that we all sort of turn our heads from," wrote one parent on a discussion board devoted to teenagers on the iVillage Web site. "As a parent, what exactly do you say to your kid?"

Yet it is just such discussions, not legal action against ordinary Internet users, that many Internet and family experts argue will be crucial to stamping out online piracy.

"The solution is in parents talking to their kids, not lawsuits," said Parry Aftab, executive director of Wiredsafety.org, a nonprofit group that seeks, among other things, to educate the public about problems that can arise for children who go online.

Ms. Aftab said her group had been flooded in recent weeks with questions from parents and teenagers about the legality and ethics of music file swapping. A particularly hard challenge for parents, she said, is how to explain to children that copying music online can be illegal when so many people — including plenty of parents — are doing it.

"A lot of parents are totally clueless about this," Ms. Aftab said. "They don't understand the laws and they don't understand the technology."

The Recording Industry Association of America, which filed 261 copyright infringement lawsuits Monday on behalf of the major record labels, hopes its sweeping legal action will provoke many such discussions. The industry holds file sharing largely responsible for a 25 percent decline in sales of CD's since 1999, when Napster, the first popular file-swapping software, was released.

Today's file-swapping services like KaZaA and Grokster have survived legal attack because they, unlike Napster, do not provide a central directory of computers on the network and what files they have. Like Napster, however, they resemble a pirate cooperative allowing individual users to make music files available on their own personal computers for others to copy.

Without those ready targets, the record industry is aiming its lawsuits directly at individuals, starting at those who "share" at least 1,000 files.

By discouraging people from allowing files to be copied, the record industry hopes to destabilize the whole ecology of file-sharing networks. Typing in a search term like "White Stripes," the name of an indie rock band, typically yields a list of hundreds of files on other computers that users can click to copy almost instantly. Once copied, that file typically adds to the total available copies.

The industry's tactic may be working. Sylvia Torres, the mother of Brianna LaHara, a 12-year-old from the Upper West Side of Manhattan who was named in one of the lawsuits, said yesterday that she had settled for $2,000. "We understand now that file sharing the music was illegal," Ms. Torres said in a statement. "You can be sure Brianna won't be doing it anymore."

But critics argued that the record industry was eager to settle with Ms. Torres because the spectacle of suing a 12-year-old honors student who received front-page treatment only added to the impression that the industry's legal actions were heavy-handed.

Ms. Torres, who did not respond to messages yesterday, told The Associated Press that she believed that her family was entitled to download music because it had paid $29.99 for software that provides access to online file-sharing services.

But in an online discussion, several parents voiced impatience with those who claimed ignorance.

"Parents are always responsible for their kid's actions," wrote one participant, identified as "peppergarden84." "Wake up America!! Teach your kids what's right and good and love them, then they will be responsible citizens."

Explaining the boundaries of copyright law may prove more difficult for some parents than explaining where babies come from. One woman who received a subpoena from the record industry association said she had struggled to explain to her 13-year-old son, who likes to write songs, why file sharing was wrong.

"I said, `Suppose you wrote a song and a famous rock group sang it and you didn't get paid,' " said the mother. "He said `I wouldn't care, that would be awesome.' They're just still in that young age where money doesn't matter."

The mother said she had better results when she compared taking someone's song to plagiarizing a school paper, something else she wants to teach him not to do as he enters high school this month.

Linda Hodge, president of the National PTA, said that parents were still learning to add Internet behavior to the list of issues that families need to talk about. "It goes along the lines of talking with them about drugs, talking with them about sex, and talking about how to keep yourself safe," she said.

Still, Stephany Hitchcock, 46, a jewelry designer in Manhattan, who was taking her 11-year-old son, Nick, home from school on the Upper West Side yesterday echoed the frustration of many parents confronting an Internet that never sleeps.

"You can't stand over these kids 24 hours a day," Ms. Hitchcock said. "Even if parents and kids are educated, it's like a candy store," that their children will take from if they can.

Sometimes it is parents who lead their children astray. When Lon Rogers, 50, of Lakewood, Colo., found out Monday that he was being sued by the record labels, a local newspaper reporter suggested that perhaps his son, Erick, had been responsible for the file-sharing activity. But Mr. Rogers said he originally told his son Erick about KaZaA — and warned him to stop using it shortly before he received a subpoena in the mail in July.

"He has nothing to do with any of this, this is all me," said Mr. Rogers, a restaurant owner. "I have my tail between my legs. I am his father. I should be his mentor, not the one who is getting in trouble."

[charmed31]

Filesharing: Is it wrong or is it our right?


"Personally, I feel like downloading a song here and there really isn't hurting anyone. The Riaa likes to guilt you into thinking that the artists aren't making any money when you download. But it's been noted that the Riaa only gives a very small percentage of the proceeds from cd sales. The artists make their money from concert ticket sales. Again, those prices are high as well.

Is it fair to expect the consumer to pay 17.99 for a cd that has maybe 2 or 3 decent songs on it? I would pay that price for a Beatles cd. All the songs were great. But nowadays even your favorite bands can have cds where there just isn't much that you like on it. And that is a waste. And if I hear a song from a band I've never heard of, I don't want to go out and buy the cd until I can hear something else. What if it's just one song that you like? Really miss the old 45's! Even in the late 90's, you could get a version of 45's on tape. But I haven't seen anything like that in cd version. But then again maybe they do exist. We live in a small town without a record store, or even a real bookstore.

And now some of the defendants being sued are getting smart. Their lawyers are bringing into question the legality of the Riaa intercepting the users IP address and the ability to search their computer remotely. That's a good question. Isn't that hacking? If I did that to your computer and I was caught, at the very least I'd be fined. Others have gone to jail for the same thing.

Most users would be willing to pay a small fee for the right to download. Itunes from Apple seems to have done quite well. Maybe the Riaa needs to rethink. They are alienating more and more consumers with their Nazi behavior. Even people that don't fileshare are sick of their antics. And all the lawsuits aren't helping, filesharing has gone up, and cd sales haven't gone up any. Maybe in the end there can be some compromises. Until then, filesharing will continue, and the Riaa will continue to whine, and the artists loose out on both sides."

on Friday on Techtv, after The Screensavers, they are doing a townhall type thing about the filesharing thing. They'll have people from record companies, supposed to have some artists, etc. But the Riaa has not responded to the offer to come and voice their opinion. What a crock. At least they could try. Buttmunches.

[FutureIverson]

Originally posted by charmed31
Filesharing: Is it wrong or is it our right?


"Personally, I feel like downloading a song here and there really isn't hurting anyone. The Riaa likes to guilt you into thinking that the artists aren't making any money when you download. But it's been noted that the Riaa only gives a very small percentage of the proceeds from cd sales. The artists make their money from concert ticket sales. Again, those prices are high as well.

Is it fair to expect the consumer to pay 17.99 for a cd that has maybe 2 or 3 decent songs on it? I would pay that price for a Beatles cd. All the songs were great. But nowadays even your favorite bands can have cds where there just isn't much that you like on it. And that is a waste. And if I hear a song from a band I've never heard of, I don't want to go out and buy the cd until I can hear something else. What if it's just one song that you like? Really miss the old 45's! Even in the late 90's, you could get a version of 45's on tape. But I haven't seen anything like that in cd version. But then again maybe they do exist. We live in a small town without a record store, or even a real bookstore.

And now some of the defendants being sued are getting smart. Their lawyers are bringing into question the legality of the Riaa intercepting the users IP address and the ability to search their computer remotely. That's a good question. Isn't that hacking? If I did that to your computer and I was caught, at the very least I'd be fined. Others have gone to jail for the same thing.

Most users would be willing to pay a small fee for the right to download. Itunes from Apple seems to have done quite well. Maybe the Riaa needs to rethink. They are alienating more and more consumers with their Nazi behavior. Even people that don't fileshare are sick of their antics. And all the lawsuits aren't helping, filesharing has gone up, and cd sales haven't gone up any. Maybe in the end there can be some compromises. Until then, filesharing will continue, and the Riaa will continue to whine, and the artists loose out on both sides."

on Friday on Techtv, after The Screensavers, they are doing a townhall type thing about the filesharing thing. They'll have people from record companies, supposed to have some artists, etc. But the Riaa has not responded to the offer to come and voice their opinion. What a crock. At least they could try. Buttmunches.

that's a good point, what makes me angry is not when people stop sharing cuz their scared, but when people feel bad for the "little people in the industry" it's all propaganda.

I think p2p users have work to do within ourselves before we start attacking the riaa, telling them to go frick themselves won't do anyone any good. The worst thing that can happen is that p2p goes underground, how well will the riaa affect p2p? is the question. We need leaders? are you the one?

[FutureIverson]

ohhh and welcome to zeropaid, good first post, most peoples first post are new threads with useless info.

[Pebbles100]

I remember recording songs from the radio. I never bought the cd unless I really wanted it. ...Ok, I'll stop reminiscing now.

[charmed31]

thanks. I had written that for my ezine/website thingy, and thought it would apply here. it's too easy for everyone just to take one side. there are many questions here, and it just needs everyone sitting down and calmly going over all the alternatives. but even if p2p goes underground, people will still have the ability to send each other songs, etc. burn the games, yada yada. the whole thing stinks. the riaa just came out and started doing things so aggressively, that they lost a lot of support right off the bat.
There should be some sort of middle ground. Me too Pebbles. i feel so old! well, time to go take my geritol!

[NDGAARONDI]

Originally posted by Kooperman
From the 9-10-03 NY Times:

"The Internet is so gray when you come to these kind of areas," Ms. Amey of Shelby Township, Mich., said after the lawsuits were filed. "When I was a kid, we used to tape music off the radio. You never heard of record companies suing people for that."


I'm glad people are debating over it, and not striking it down simply saying it's illegal etc.


Originally posted by Kooperman
From the 9-10-03 NY Times:

Today's file-swapping services like KaZaA and Grokster have survived legal attack because they, unlike Napster, do not provide a central directory of computers on the network and what files they have. Like Napster, however, they resemble a pirate cooperative allowing individual users to make music files available on their own personal computers for others to copy.

It wasn't just that.




Originally posted by Kooperman
From the 9-10-03 NY Times:

The industry's tactic may be working. Sylvia Torres, the mother of Brianna LaHara, a 12-year-old from the Upper West Side of Manhattan who was named in one of the lawsuits, said yesterday that she had settled for $2,000. "We understand now that file sharing the music was illegal," Ms. Torres said in a statement. "You can be sure Brianna won't be doing it anymore."



Lots of things are illegal but don't care and do them, sex laws especially. I remember a Texan law was revoked by the Supreme Court, cannot say that everyone obeyed the State law in question :fire :fire

I'm happy for that kid with writing songs. He's a true musician.

Three bouncing frogs for him ---> :fire :fire :fire