The verdict of the country’s first ever file-sharing case is in and it doesn’t look good.
The courtroom in Duluth, Minnesota was filled with both cheers and outrage this afternoon, and unfortunately for us members of the file-sharing community we won’t be breaking out the bubbly anytime soon it appears.
For those of you that have been following the first ever file-sharing case to reach a jury trial in Virgin v. Thomas, the verdict’s in and Jammie Thomas has been found guilty of copyright infringement for the illegal file-sharing of music on KaZaA.
The Jury ordered Thomas to pay some $9,250 for each of the 24 illegally shared songs that were the subject of the lawsuit, which amounts to some $222,000 in total penalties.
The verdict is a big setback for the file-sharing community and a huge win for the RIAA who will probably be more emboldened than ever to go after people who illegally share music on P2P and file-sharing networks.
The case did set some stunning precedents, however in that the RIAA didn’t have to prove that a file-sharing program existed on her PC at the time they inspected her HDD, or that she was the actual person who shared the music.
Also, the RIAA wasn’t forced to prove that anybody actually downloaded the songs from her, only that she even shared them at all.
Though interestingly enough the win may actually be a hollow one because piracy is more rampant than ever and clearly their legally strategy is having no effect in trying to bring it to a halt. It was even revealed yesterday that they’ve sued more than 26,000 people so far and essentially lost money on the cost of litigation versus settlement amount recouped. When you factor in all the people they’ve pissed off and thus business lost compared to the so-called deterrent factor they seek to instill, their strategy has been total blunder.
In fact, according to Big Champagne, an online measuring service which tracks P2P and file-sharing network traffic, the number of P2P users illegally sharing copyrighted material has nearly tripled since 2003 when the RIAA first began its file-sharing crackdown.
All this win will mean is that people will perhaps settle sooner and without hesitation, but overall it won’t in any way translate into an end to music piracy as we know it. This is probably the most depressing thing in that all the RIAA has managed to do is get a jury to reach a verdict that really proves once and for all how desperate it really is. I mean great, now a lady of limited means owes them $220,000 for which she will have to declare bankruptcy, and the RIAA gets what?
People already know file-sharing is illegal, but that’s not the point. The real point is that the RIAA does everything in its power to rip off consumers and artists alike, and wrap everything in DRM so that even when you purchase music its never really yours. Rather than address these issues they sue everybody in sight to somehow out the file-sharing genie back in the bottle.
If the verdict wasn’t enough to already make you angry with the RIAA then how about this quote from the RIAA’s lead attorney, Richard Gabriel, outside the courtroom.
“This is what can happen if you don’t settle,” he said.
What a jerk.
In a lone bit of hope for the future of the verdict in the case, which will certainly be appealed, Ray Beckerman of Recording Industry vs The People writes:
I’m sorry to hear that Ms. Thomas lost, but I don’t think the case is over by a long shot; the verdict — based as it upon an entirely erroneous jury instruction going to the very heart of the case — will almost definitely be set aside on appeal.
Moreover, the RIAA may have won this courtroom battle, but it already lost the war a long time ago when it decided to sue its customers rather than listen to what they had to say.
If you want to show the RIAA who really won, I urge you to go out and download few new albums after your read this, and preferably the top 20, their real “money makers.”
Even better yet, support Radiohead on October 10th and buy their new album “In Rainbows” directly from them!
HERE’S A NEWS CLIP I FOUND
Looking for more stuff to watch or download?
First File-Sharing Trial Ever – Day 2: ‘We’ve Sued More than 26,000 People So Far’
First RIAA Lawsuit Heads to Trial Today
Radiohead Shocks Record Industry With Free Download of New Album
3 Quick Ways to Watch Movies for FREE!
3 quick ways to watch TV shows for FREE
BitTorrent torrent sites & search engines
uTorrent – A Beginner’s guide to BitTorrent downloading
Watch The Simpsons, The Office, Jackass, South Park, Lost, X-Men, and More, On-Demand For Free
News Tip? Comment? Suggestion? jared@zeropaid.com
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- RIAA Loses Ability to Appeal in Jammie Thomas Case
- First RIAA Lawsuit Heads to Trial Today
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How about we raise money to help this poor woman out?
@Mels
Hmm. interesting thought….if everybody gave a measly 5 bucks even it could work.
I think this woman has yet to appeal
i like the radio head idea. ive never listened to them ever but im willing to shell out a ton of cash for their bravery alone.
Saw the win coming a mile away. Man you Americans sure have a screwed up system although this corporate attitude is spreading like the plague around the world. Wish there was a democratic country in the world we could all live in. Long live the dream of democracy.
She should have settled when the RIAA offered it to her. I do believe it was in the range of $5000.00. You can’t fight these guys.
The RIAA and MPAA are a bunch of screw-ups seeking a perfect dream they cant have. Sorry boys the people control the internet now.
Well shit….I so hope this is overturned on appeal. If not we should take up a collection for the brave woman.
BTW @rockandrollaf
Fuck you you cowardly corporate shill!
Idiotic and crazy you know what if i had the money i would free this woman and then i would hire some crazy shit load of horse poop to throw over their office. Isn’t their any proof of those bitches downloading themselves? Because i find it hard to believe that there’s no corruption at the RIAA.
Presently the only thing “we” can do is wait and see what happens on appeal however if a legitimate account is set up to help her I will contribute to it.
@StormNinja
Yah I agree.
It IS a sad day in file sharing but hopefully the appeal will overturn this. But that is just a wish. l
BTW@Gamer8585
FUCK YOU and YOUR MOTHER!!!!!!
Rockandrollaf is failing.
Yeah this isn’t good that they took the case so quickly we should start a fund for her because she is being forced to pay an unreal amount of money.
Fuck!It was on every Channel in Germany too.Poor Girl.They try to scare everyone with one filesharer.I have to callbecause of my studies many time the GEMA (german record Industry).Sometimes we need for our shortmovies some copyrighted Music.Many times they are confuced with the songs I search or they tell me to call the artist/label directly…so for what are these bastards?
There is an appeal going for this case. You can help raise funds for her to fight these morons!
I’m donating something. Not much but it’s all i can afford at the moment. Somethings better than nothing right?
http://freejammie.com/