Wisconsin man on hook for big bill over grandson's illegal movie downloads

[Krell]

RACINE, Wis. (AP) - Fred Lawrence says he didn't even know what file sharing was before the film industry accused him of illegally downloading movies.

Lawrence, 67, was sued Tuesday by the Motion Picture Association of America, which seeks as much as $600,000 US in damages for four movies illegally downloaded through the Internet file-sharing service iMesh.

Lawrence said his grandson was 12 and unaware it was illegal when he downloaded The Incredibles, I, Robot, The Grudge and The Forgotten in December.

Lawrence told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that an MPAA lawyer called him late Wednesday with an offer: The lawsuit would be dropped if he paid $4,000 in instalments over a year to 18 months.

He said the association made the same offer without instalments in March.
"I don't want to sound like a smart aleck, but $4,000 might as well be a million," said Lawrence.

The movie industry has joined the music industry in filing hundreds of lawsuits against users of peer-to-peer file sharing networks, said Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based organization dedicated to protecting civil liberties on the Internet.

Kori Bernards, MPAA vice president of corporate communications, said the group is trying to fight a problem that costs the movie industry an estimated $5.4 billion a year.
"We're not asking for anyone's sympathy. We are asking for people to understand the consequences of Internet piracy," Bernards said.

In some cases, parents have successfully argued in court that they didn't do the downloading, only to have the industry sue the child who did, von Lohmann said.



http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2005/11/04/1293109-ap.html







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[moneoa]

I read about this earlier.

How noble of them to offer the settlement in installments.
" I am computer illiterate"
"ok fair enough, how about a payment plan"

it's tactics like this that really blow my mind, can we say terror tactics by big business.
"we know your retired and on pension but well you really should monitor your grandson 24/7, so tough break"

this bullshit where you are liable because even if you don't use it your name is on it, can't go on too much longer.
It has only provided a window in which the induistries can still sue you for their shit regardless if you were directly responsible or not.

Wait until the guy who is a computer illiterate ass leaves his wireless access point open and gets busted for downloading child porn even though he had nothing to do with it, his name is on the internet account, it's like saying you can be charged for robbery if your son goes out and robs a bank with your car.

Will be even better if he is affluent and white.

Then we will see how long they still pull this garbage.

[Krell]

Not to mention WHO THE FUCK can justify the $150,000 price tag per title!! That's rediculous. That's some arbitrary figure they pull out of their ass on a statistical model they maximized for profitability.


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[notbob]

they picked racine beacuse it's got high unemployment and low median income

nobody there will be fighting a lawsuit any time soon

p.s. he actually owns dvds 3 of the 4 movies they are suing him for

[skankito]

Now they are suing him for DOWNLOADING the movies, or for having them shared? And the $5.4 billion dollars a year figure is ludicrous. Its exactly what they said it is. An ESTIMATE. And its based off of broken data. As with the RIAA, they count every single file downloaded as a lost sale. Someone downloads a movie, they lose a dvd sale. Someone downloads another movie, thats a lost movie ticket sale. That thinking is so asinine it boggles the mind. It makes me wonder if its more propoganda, or if it really is sheer stupidity. Keep in mind the quality of a dvd rip or a movie recorded from the big screen nowhere nears the quality of the actually dvd. For many people, downloading movies serves as a way to preview the movie in full, instead of seeing all the good scenes in the theater previews in 90 seconds. The only movies I have on my computer are the ones I want to watch first to determine whether its worth buying or not. Sometimes I don't even watch the whole thing. Maybe half of it, and if it peaks my interest, I'll go see it in theaters or buy it. I get sick of paying $8.50 to sit for an hour and a half in a theater bored out of my mind to watch the garbage they're releasing these days.

[Mels_Smileys45]

The only movies I have on my PC are the ones I wanted but didn't want to have to pay for them.

[shawners]

The kid is stupid.. WHY The hell is he downloading movies he already owns.. This sounds really bizaar.. More like downloading cams and TC movies or something. It doesnt add up, im thinking their a bunch of liars.

[Krell]

It's likely that they "bought" the movies afterwards anyways.

Even at that, a cam is a cam, it's a shitty copy and the MPAA is never going to LOSE money because that kid didnt go to the theatre, because that kid NEVER would have paid to see it to begin with.

So lets say for example, that the kid saw the cam, and subsequently bought the DVDs, then what REALLY happened, is that thru the use of P2P, the people who made the movie made profits off the DVD, and the MPAA really has nothing to do with it, except to use extortion tactics to make more money.

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[Mels_Smileys45]

The movie theater could have lost out. They lose money on me because I rarely go anymore unless its a date. I admit I download cams rarely because I don't think its right for people to use a cam to record them in the first place. Let the movie have its box office. I would hate to the think the theaters lost out on those 5 dollar hotdogs.

Not every download = a lost sale but there is a percentage of lost sales there. I see no reason for me to buy any DVDs either, when I am getting them for free. I dont try and rationalize why I do it, its simple. Im greedy and I like movies.

[shawners]

Movie theater loses out.. because the people who download cams like to watch it and possibly hold out for dvd scr or TC. Thats what i do, i have looked at the reports at the box office. Some movies this year didnt even gross over a 1million opening weekend.. A few years ago before downloading movies, every movie seem to have an opening of 20 million dollars. This year has put quite a few movies below the 5 million mark in the first few weeks.

[kokanezub]

i actually go pay for the movie
then record it on my kodak....then share the avi illegal? but i paid for the movie

[Mels_Smileys45]

i actually go pay for the movie
then record it on my kodak....then share the avi illegal? but i paid for the movie


You paid to see the movie, not have a copy of it.

[mcovey]

I really wonder how many people would pay if I sent letters of infringement to everyone who downloaded my webpage, which is copyrighted by the way...

[Mels_Smileys45]

I really wonder how many people would pay if I sent letters of infringement to everyone who downloaded my webpage, which is copyrighted by the way...


My PC cache is now cleared! But I might copy it and start my onw site soon.:icon_tong

[skankito]

Movie theater loses out.. because the people who download cams like to watch it and possibly hold out for dvd scr or TC. Thats what i do, i have looked at the reports at the box office. Some movies this year didnt even gross over a 1million opening weekend.. A few years ago before downloading movies, every movie seem to have an opening of 20 million dollars. This year has put quite a few movies below the 5 million mark in the first few weeks.

But thats because quite a few movies this year haven't been worth 5 million. Its become more of a gamble when seeing a movie whether it'll be good or not, and unfortunately, the odds are usually not in our favor. Between the $8.50 for a ticket ($17.00 for a couple), $9.00 for a popcorn and soda, its fucking expensive to go see a movie. I feel a little bit better taking a preview of it and knowing I will get some enjoyment out of shelling out my hard earned money, instead of taking a gamble on paying to see a movie that I'd rather pay $8.50 to vomit on.

I'm not questioning the legality of it. I understand the law the way it is written. But the way I look at it, what I'm doing, isn't necessarily wrong. If it is a quality movie (or cd for that matter, the same concept applies), and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I will go see it/purchase it and fully support those who worked on it. If its a piece of refuse, then I'll promptly delete it from my hard drive, and they won't have my business. No lost sales there. I don't give a shit if downloading it was illegal. No one's sales are being hurt by me, and I can sleep easy at night knowing I'm not screwing anyone over.

[Mels_Smileys45]

It could also be that Hollywood has decided to hold off on investing in the really good movies that they would usually expect to make huge bank until they get this whole piracy thing sorted. It would be very wise of them to hold off on the good stuff till they can controll their content. Until then we can expect low budget crap, perhaps


And if you want to nkow if a movie is good, read. Look into some reviews and watch all the trailers you can find. Only idiots go see every movie out there.

[shawners]

Movie theaters lost out on me going to the movies as much and renting them at blockbuster.

[skankito]

And if you want to nkow if a movie is good, read. Look into some reviews and watch all the trailers you can find.

You're right, and I do read up on reviews of movies I might be interested in.

[VAMPYRE BLADE]

i think we all can agree that its hard to find a movie worth paying $9.00 to see at the theater, plus gas, food and all the other stuff. only movie i paid to see this year was star wars 3, anything i did download and watch, had i paid to see i would of been pissed off. so what they are really mad about is they cant trick people anymore with trailers into going to movies that suck ass. serenity was very good, i enjoyed that, but that was it, other then star wars.