Comments on: Why the RIAA should have won (though the fine was too high)

Record labels should have won case against Minnesota woman who was probably sharing copyrighted music on Kazaa. The problem is the $220,000 penalty.

[marcoo624]

Boycott!

Ill bet they would change their minds in a flash if everyone stopped buying CDs for just 1 year. It wouldn't put them out of buisness but it would remind them why they have all their money in the first place. Can you go a year with out buying a cd? I can.

[luvwknd]

HEY EVERYBODY....

DO NOT PURCHASE ANY MEDIA THAT REPRESENTS ANY INTERESTS WITH THE RIAA!
LISTEN TO MUSIC ON THE RADIO OR STREAMING AUDIO ONLY (i think that is still legal?)

[ludicrousrex]

Ignore the RIAA and their music! Don't buy, don't download.

A few thoughts:

1. Remember, stealing is still consuming. The fact that fans download albums illegally is telling the RIAA that their inferior product is still marketable, and that we will do just about anything to get it. That lends momentum to the effort to force us to pay for it through threats and thuggery. More downloads and dropping sales will mean MORE of these lawsuits, not fewer. The only way out of the cycle is to leave them behind altogether. No downloads, no purchases.

2. The same recording industry that gleefully sues its own customers ALSO keeps good music off the shelves by refusing to give local and unsigned acts a share of the game. Support your LOCAL music, and give the boot to the RIAA.

3. So when you all cry "Boycott!" I think it's a GREAT idea, but be ready for what that means - you have to ignore mainstream music on TV, the radio, the Internet, AND at the CD store. Give your local bands a chance, buy their stuff on CDBaby, download from their Myspace and Garageband.com sites, and put money in the hands of artists. Go for the unsigned, the local record lables, the small genre publishers. Share links to your local eclectic/community radio station's Internet streams. Got a great station that plays independent music? Tell your friends!

4. I promise you all, there is wonderful stuff out there, being made by people who love music, not by cynical masterminds who manufacture albums like they're toothpaste or tupperware. I promise you that a ton of it is free, that bands are out there on the web, in your clubs, on Bittorrent trackers, literally giving their stuff away, playing their hearts out, trying to catch YOUR attention. Throw them a bone and stop feeding the kitty over at BigCorp Music.

[Skull Dugger]

STOP BREAKING THE LAW, ^$$#@!&!!!

My goodness, people - can't you see the forest for the trees?! She is a thief, and no amount of prevaricating will change that, no matter how hard you try. When you download music without paying for it, you are STEALING. So, stop doing it. And one wonders why we have to have so many laws - it's because people like this loser decide that they're going to take what they want, and damn the consequences. What's the difference between her and big-shot corporate executives who shill us out of millions every day? (that's a rhetorical question by the way - spare me your nitpicking). Yes, the RIAA normally acts like a bunch of greedy thugs, but that doesn't mean we have to be like them. Have some backbone!

[skeptik]

perfectly f*in' illustrated

The best part about your rant is that you make it so obvious you didn't read much of the article and just jumped on the opportunity to open your mouth.
She was hosting songs for downloading by others, not accused of downloading.

[markb1967]

Remember when they stole our money.

FYI- CD's cost about 25-50 cents each for the record companies, and in the 80's, and 90's they charged us $20 bucks or more for a Cd with 8-12 songs. The artists only get pennies for their efforts, so they tour and sell merchandise to get a fair cut of profits.

So you know what, after sticking it to the consumers all these years, it's payback time. DONT BUY CDS, support local artists directly.

[joyluck1987]

Give me a break

The lady is GUILTY. She made a decision to download music and share music, that she did not pay for and she now should have to pay for that decision. No pity here for her. She got caught doing something that is illegal!

[George Riddick]

Piracy should NOT be profitable

What a Strategic Blunder!

You know, I have never agreed with the folks at the Electronic Freedom Foundation, or other groups who seem dedicated to changing the long standing laws of copyright protection in this country. But I have noted one thing.

Their allies seem to include some of the brightest young minds in this country. From the law professors and students at Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, Duke, and others ... to the lawyers at some of the most prestigious IP firms in the land ... to the engineers and scientists at some of our leading technology companies in this country ... the intellectual brainpower in this self-described "new wave" group has been impressive.

How this group could allow a strategic blunder like what we've just seen come out of Duluth is beyond me. Why these organizations didn't get involved, study the case thoroughly, and encourage Ms. Thomas, and her obviously inexperienced attorney, to surrender is truly phenomenal.

This is not the individual, the attorney, the forum, or the time I would want a precedent such as this established. What a strategic blunder!

Maybe these people are not nearly as smart as I gave them credit for. Apparently, they all sat back and naively thought (make that "wished") that Ms. Thomas would somehow end the RIAA onslaught forever.

Don't get me wrong. I applaud the decisions made by both the judge and jury in this precedent setting case. The anti-copyright crowd will suffer the consequences of this loss big time. Our economy will be strengthened. And these decisions will do more to help curtail widespread Internet Piracy than all the politicians, copyright industry executives, and lobbyists in this entire country put together.

I thought good lawyers advised their clients of the downside of their attempts to "change the law of the land" and could be sanctioned if they chose to pursue only "the big payday" or their personal "15 minutes of fame" instead. Read the copyright laws. Displaying and downloading copyright-protected works owned by others without their permission is illegal. It has both civil and criminal consequences. And, as in the case of Ms. Thomas in Duluth, they can be severe. She will have to pay back nearly $500,000 by having her pay check garnished for the rest of her life.

But she doesn't get any sympathy from me. If she had taken this many copyrighted songs out of Best Buy or Wal-Mart, she'd be in jail right now. And owe back a like amount of money as well. None of us - right or left - want to live in a lawless society. It's interesting to debate legal principles and consequences, but fearing to go outside for a cup of coffee or a loaf of bread is not something we have had any experience with in this country at all. Thank goodness!

And if you don't think organized white collar crime families are behind much of this Internet piracy epidemic, you'd better think again.

COUNTERPOINT:

Here is the one issue I have discussed with my 20-year-old son and I do have "conflicts" with. Google infringes more legitimate copyrights every single day than Ms. Thomas could do in a lifetime. Do we now have a country that has completely different standards for the billionaires than we do for the normal working folks? If so, I sure hope this is short-lived as well. I think I'd rather give up the coffee and the bread than have to worry about Google stealing from me every single day.

What's your opinion?

George P. Riddick, III
Chairman/CEO
Imageline, Inc.

[e-mail]

[JonathanPDX]

Ridiculous...

How does the judgment against Ms Thomas serve justice? It only serves the RIAA. I hope they choke on every penny she pays them. The judge in this case obviously knows the letter of the law, but none of the spirit. If the attorney for Ms Thomas was inexperienced and naïve, the why didn't the anti-copyright groups step up and support him or replace him? The only thing this trial accomplished is to further erode the little guy's chances against the corporation. They can't publicly flog Ms Thomas, but they can financially scourge her for the rest of her life. Is this justice? Is this America? Were we suddenly transported to the Soviet Union of the 50s? So sad. Do svidaniya, Comrade. The State has won.

[jerryengelbach]

The Artists Should Protest

I'd like to see the artists whose music Jammie allegedly "pirated" protest the verdict.

They have got to be aware of how much they've been exploited to enrich the record companies, and how little it costs them in money and how much their fan base is improved if a few copies of their songs change hands.

[nothingavailable]

RIAA Do not represent the Artists and never have!

The riaa is nothing but a gang of mobsters with a new extortion racket.

Want to beat the criminals?
Do not download, and do not purchase any new music for a period of 3 months. Absolutely nothing. NOTHING.....

When the Artists do not receive ANY income at all for 3 months there will be a rapid overhaul of the retards in charge at the riaa.

If you download a song and like the artist, support them. Buy their CD. But buy it from their website so it's directly from them, so the Rabid, Irrational, A$$ Association won't get any credit.

[JonathanPDX]

Yes, by God!

Yes! Yes! Let's make them ALL pay! Anyone who shares music, books, jaywalkers, people who don't use turn signals, people who use other people's pictures in their Myspace pages, people who don't water their lawn, or those who don't bathe! Punish them all! Money, money, money! It's the new god. Bow down and worship it, America! Our government has given the corporations the same status as the people. The corporations run the government, soon they will be the government - the CEOs will be the prophets and lawyers their high priests. Punish all the lawbreakers and break them! Report your neighbor! Your friends! Your family! The law MUST be obeyed!!

All jocularity and cynicism aside, whatever happened to the "Spirit of the Law"? Methinks that the RIAA takes itself WAY too seriously and perhaps it's time for the people to take a stand against abuses of the public trust.