RIAA Suggests MIT Student Drop Out Of School To Pay Fine

[Krell]

from the educating-the-youth-of-America dept

The RIAA has made quite the business out of shaking down folks they accuse of uploading music. This has been covered at length before, but they basically send a "settlement offer" with each lawsuit. The offer says (more or less) "pay $3500 and this goes away." They also make it clear that just taking the case to court will likely cost more than $3500 in legal fees, suggesting it's not even worth fighting it -- which in some parts of the world sounds very much like extortion. Plenty of people have done the math and suggested that this little business of suing their biggest fans has turned into a nice little profit center for the industry. Digg is pointing to the case of one woman, a student at MIT, who is trying to talk to the RIAA after being offered just such a settlement. When she points out that she's a poor college student, the RIAA rep kindly suggests that perhaps dropping out of school will make it easier to pay off the fine. Now, from the story, it's unclear whether or not the student is guilty of uploading files. If she did it, then it's certainly her responsibility to face whatever punishment comes her way. However, on the spectrum of punishment fitting the crime, does it seem reasonable to ask a student to give up her college education for the sake of paying off the recording industry for the "crime" of helping others find music they might like?



http://techdirt.com/articles/20060405/0227225.shtml






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[Auggie2k]

El bastardos!

[Potato]

However, on the spectrum of punishment fitting the crime, does it seem reasonable to ask a student to give up her college education for the sake of paying off the recording industry for the "crime" of helping others find music they might like?

Simple answer: No.

[RACKnRAIL]

I would call that extortion. Shameless bastards!

[mfgbypooter]

If she doesn't want to give up her college education and can't afford to also pay her debt then her only other choice is to get off her moneymaker and use it.

Even if she's muttley she could probably still get a buck a throw and at that price I'm sure she could raise more than enough money to pay off the RIAA and her school loan too.

*

[meyou123]

I think it is only a matter of time before the RIAA or MPAA has their heads handed to them on a plate. They seem to be getting bolder and bolder, but THIS stinks to high heaven of extortion. Mabye they should tell this to a judge and see what they think!

[shawners]

They arent suggesting you drop out. The kids get caught, and they give the RIAA a big excuse saying, i cant afford college and this.. And the RIAA tells them well you need to pay it so you need to take off semister or year and pay this. Kids should use it as excuse if they cant pay something. They take payment plans.. pay 10 bucks a month. They cant make you pay so much a month or year. As long as you send a payment in, they cant do shit. They cant take you to court to make you speed up your payments.

[mountain_rage]

Im still waiting for the riaa to start sueing stanford law students.

[lifehacker]

lol, if the guy was smart enought to get into MIT how did he manage to get caught with filesharing?!

[black_magiic]

I would kill to get in at MIT or Stanford. Sadly probably not in the cards for me *sigh*

[lifehacker]

I would kill to get in at MIT or Stanford. Sadly probably not in the cards for me *sigh*

Hey, same here. My wish is also to get into one of those two colleges. I think I have a fairly good cahnce of getting into Stanford or MIt if I keep my grades up. And since my dad works at Brown Universiity and worked at one time at MIt as well as many other colleges I get an advantage as well as a 15% off scholarship to any IVY league college!:icon_king