53059959
Temp banned from BBR more then anyone
join:2002-10-02
PwnZone | so
arent they imploding at a healthy rate anyways? |
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primal98
join:2004-08-27
| Iunno
As much as I bid her the best in a fight vs RIAA.... I don't think a suburban mom has the money to actually fight them :/ RIAA has bajillions, and in this world you could have the best defence but the person with more money might be able to weazle out :/
~prime |
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jwsmiths4
Part Man, Part Mac
Premium
join:2003-10-25
Savannah, GA | reply to 53059959
Re: so
Not fast enough. |
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yzerman
Premium
join:2001-12-04
Grand Rapids, MI
| It's not about right or wrong..
It works just like the (we got evidence you purchased a device that can be used to hack DTV) DTV exploiting lawsuits work..
You can either drop $1500-3000 and walk away from any sort of record on your name..
or you can fight it, stress out, spend a lot of time on your defense and court time, pay 10x more money for your lawyer to go to court if the record companies decide to push it that far and then IF you loose you pay big additional $$$
RIAA lawsuits isn't about making money.. its about striking fear into people and putting a small dent in their pocketbooks?
Do you really think people care about stealing music until they get that scary letter and a court date? Or do you think its when they or their parents who don't have a lot of money have to re-mortgage their house or dip into the small savings they might have to pay the RIAA a small fee to drop all of that trouble? |
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joshpo
join:2002-09-24
Philadelphia, PA
| reply to primal98
Re: Iunno
Eventually someone will fight them and the case will get thrown out and that will pave the way for every lawyer in the country to fight these junk suits. They are abusing the legal system and using our tax payer dollars to do it. I am not defending file sharing etc but racketeering and extortion of a divorced mother of 5 is not going to make Kazaa go away... |
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Jason Levine
Premium
join:2001-07-13
USA
| Not surprising
A giant media organization with millions upon millions of dollars being sent to their teams of lawyers says that you broke the law. If you fight it in court and lose, you face hundreds of millions of dollars in fines. Even if you win, you'll still be spending hours upon hours of your own time and cash you might not have on hand for your own layer. Or you could accept the ~$4,500 settlement offer and make the whole thing go away.
If I were in that situation, I'd like to say that I'd fight against the charges because I was innocent. Except that I probably wouldn't fight it. Not because I wouldn't have been innocent, but because I wouldn't have the time or money to fight it. It would wind up being cheaper for me in the long run to pay the RIAA to go away.
This is why I oppose the RIAA's efforts. I think that they have every right to go against people who are violating their copyrights. However, I think that the state of affairs right now provides no protection against someone being wrongly charged. This means that the RIAA can charge anyone they want, railroad those people into settlements, and then add more onto their "pirates sued" press releases. Something needs to be changed in the system to protect against this happening (while still allowing the RIAA to go against the real pirates).
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-Jason Levine
My Gallery | Jason's Toolbox | PCQandA.com | URateit.com |
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John_W
Premium
join:2000-04-25
Worcester, MA
clubs: 
 ·Vonage
| reply to primal98
Re: Iunno
I agree. The RIAA usually is looking for $2 - $3000 to settle. You lawyer will want a retainer of at least $2000 just to start fighting the case. Seeing as most of these cases are aimed at college kids or families with teenagers with limited incomes, it is just easier to settle out of court and the RIAA/MPAA knows it.
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Oink Oink... Oink... Oink Oink Oink... Oink Oink... OINK... |
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s8nlovesme
join:2003-12-26
Waukesha, WI
| dumb lawyer
He is surprised that no one fights back? Its because even if you win, you lose (money). Then you have to pray you get legal costs or a class action is filed. This is kind of like what direct tv does. Sues people with no real proof, then you fight back and win, yet you lose a ton of money fighting. |
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jwsmiths4
Part Man, Part Mac
Premium
join:2003-10-25
Savannah, GA
| reply to primal98
Re: Iunno
I don't think that for her case to be successful she'll have to prove that no one in her household ever engaged in online file-sharing. Really all she has to prove is that their "evidence" is not sound enough to prove that she was engaged in it, beyond a reasonable doubt. Really I don't even think that will be terribly difficult provided the RIAA wasn't sitting outside her window video taping her downloading these songs (of course that would open a whole new back of trouble for the RIAA  )
Justin
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My fiancé calls me the high-priest of Macdom. Wish Apple would open an Apple Store in Savannah so I'd have somewhere cool to work before Med-School. |
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getaclueyouFOOL
| YAWN...
Go ahead, make my day! If you're a Pirate and you think you can win in court, let's see how smart you are when you get whacked $10,000 PER title/copy and a prison sentence. You can talk all the shit you want, but there ain't a court in the World gonna let you steal copyright protected works.
But go ahead, take your case to court and see for yourself - fool! |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
|  Where are the free ACLU lawyers or EFF lawyers?
The ACLU and the EFF have tons of lawyers on staff and as volunteers for all kinds of court cases. They both make a big noise about the **AA abusing people. Why haven't they volunteered to defend these people for free? Really, I'd like to know. Anyone have any theories?
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My Web Page
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lordfly
join:2000-10-12
Homestead, FL | RIAA lawyer insurance
Okay an idea...suppose a non-profit organization is started to help fund a pool of lawyers to fight in the defense of those that have been wrongly accused.
I know, it sounds dumb.... |
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JSRoman
Premium
join:2005-03-10
Callahan, FL
| Feel sorry for mom.
Mom is obviously in over her head. Kazaa was on her computer and she should be smacking some sense into her children's friend who opened Kazaa account on her computer. Willing to bet if this goes to trial she is going to pay a lot more than settlement amount. |
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Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
 ·Site5.com
 ·AT&T Midwest
·Comcast
| reply to Jason Levine
Re: Not surprising
Great post Jason! I agree 100%. That is the same problem I have with these lawsuits. They can victimize the innocent as easily as the guilty. Sure, 99% of these lawsuits have some merit to them, but what about the 1% who have never traded files?
If the RIAA want to go after these pirates, and they should have the ability to do so, then there should be some checks and balances in place to protect the truely innocent.
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My Domain
Nightfall's Hockey and Life Journal |
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Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
Premium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ
| reply to primal98
Re: Iunno
said by primal98  :As much as I bid her the best in a fight vs RIAA.... I don't think a suburban mom has the money to actually fight them :/ RIAA has bajillions, and in this world you could have the best defence but the person with more money might be able to weazle out :/ ~prime suburban white plains, ny=too much money to know what to do with it all. shes most likely loaded and can afford one of them fancy lawyers.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports |
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Jason Levine
Premium
join:2001-07-13
USA
1 edit | reply to getaclueyouFOOL
Re: YAWN...
Taylor, every time one of these topics comes up, you pop in and immediately assume that the person is guilty. I wonder if you've ever considered the notion that the RIAA's data might be wrong and they might be suing an innocent person
It's happened before. They sued a grandmother whose Mac was incapable of running Kazaa, yet they thought that she had downloaded hip-hop music via the service. Eventually, mostly due to public pressure, they dropped the charges, but how many "Mac grandmothers" are there who settled to avoid a costly court battle?
If this woman is guilty, then I'll be right there saying that she should pay up. (Ok, maybe not using your exact verbiage, but agreeing with the general notion that those who pirate copyrighted music should pay.) However, if she's innocent and the RIAA is going after her without cause, then she's entitled to her day in court and I hope she wins.
EDIT: In case you need reminding about the "Mac Grandma" case, here's a link: »www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c···O2D1.DTL
Some quotes of note:
The RIAA said it had gathered evidence showing Ward had used Kazaa to share more than 2,000 songs, including hip-hop hits like Trick Daddy's "I'm a Thug.''
Through Cohn, Ward declined an interview. But Cohn said Ward's home computer runs on Apple's Macintosh operating system, and Kazaa is available only for computers that run on Microsoft's Windows.
Ward and her husband use the computer only for e-mail and to check weather reports, had never downloaded music and did not have children or grandchildren at home who could have been using Kazaa without their knowledge, Cohn said.
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-Jason Levine
My Gallery | Jason's Toolbox | PCQandA.com | URateit.com |
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Goldman
join:2002-06-21
Maumelle, AR | reply to primal98
Re: Iunno
They'll make an example out of her and try to crucify her for fighting back. Hopefully she will get some help and win, but I think she will end up paying a massive amount in the long run. |
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mglunt
join:2001-09-10
Fredericksburg, VA
 ·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | She's in the wrong here.
Don't want to make all the anti-RIAA people too mad here, but she is clearly in the wrong. Even though I think the RIAA is being stupid running around suing everyone (I think it is hurting them more than helping), she is going to lose.
She ADMITS Kazaa was on her computer. She admits it was used. Her only defense is that the computer and the Internet connection that SHE is responsible for was used by a friend of her kids. I guarantee you her kids were willing accomplices in this.
The only option she has that I can see is to settle and go after the parents of her kids' friend in civil court.
I also think the paragraph used to headline this story was a bit misleading. I read it and figured Kazaa wasn't even installed. It was installed and used. |
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nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
·Speakeasy
| reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Where are the free ACLU lawyers or EFF lawyers
said by TKJunkMail :The ACLU and the EFF have tons of lawyers on staff and as volunteers for all kinds of court cases. They both make a big noise about the **AA abusing people. Why haven't they volunteered to defend these people for free? Really, I'd like to know. Anyone have any theories? Because, even if they did offer to cover all costs - court fees, lawyer fees, time lost from work/lost job due to missed time, etc., they'd have to find someone willing to allow them to help. Frankly, there just aren't a lot of people out there that can afford the time or want the stress associated with going to a full trial.
What I'm waiting for is the RIAA to screw up and send a letter to a retired tort lawyer - particularly if said lawyer never engaged in file sharing. That will be when it gets fun.
-tom
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"Some people have morals, standards and ideals about quality, but I'm an American: I couldn't care less." --Tony Pierce (paraphrased) |
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Jason Levine
Premium
join:2001-07-13
USA
| reply to JSRoman
Re: Feel sorry for mom.
If anything, maybe the court case will give some bounds for when you cease to be accountable. If her daughter's friends had come over and sold drugs in her house without her knowledge should she be held accountable for those sales and arrested? What if some hacker breaks into your computer system and sets things up so that they can download songs from P2P networks via your computer? I'm all for personal responsibility, but there comes a point when a person's honest lack of knowledge of a situation occurring should mean that they aren't liable for the crime that was being committed behind their backs.
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-Jason Levine
My Gallery | Jason's Toolbox | PCQandA.com | URateit.com |
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