RIAA: Boston University Grad to Pay $675,000

[ssddx]

[citation][nom]nixname[/nom]King-Although I personally won't stick up for RIAA or the gradual dismantling of the public sphere and privacy rights, saying that no one should be allowed to defend them would make us just as fascist as we are accusing them of being. I for one would love to see if anyone can come up with compelling argument for the tactics/goals/practices of RIAA. So please...have at it.[/citation]

Quite simple, they are using scare tactics. Do you honestly think they will see 675k from a 25 year old? They are trying (albiet in a bad way) to get people to buy music (at high prices) instead of downloading it from filesharing services. They do have the legal right to pursue cases such as these; it was not the riaa that came up with the 675,000 figure. It was a jury of his peers.

Do I think the case was legit? Sure. Do I think it was the right thing to do? No. They have ruined at least 10 years of the kid's life over 30 songs. They are looking for the publicity. If they actually wanted payment they would have settled it out of court for a fraction of the penalty.

 

[joebob2000]

RIAA: Boston University Grad to Pay $675,000

Joel Tenenbaum, a twenty-five-year-old Boston University graduate student from Providence, R.I.,

You guys do know there is a difference between a "grad[uate]" and a "graduate student", right?

 

[griffed88]

stealing is stealing, but i don't believe the punishment fit the crime in this case. It is utterly ridiculous to charge that much for 30 songs. I am glad that he will file bankruptcy so that the RIAA won't get a dime out of him. and in 12 years he can start building his credit again, besides it's better to pay in cash anyways to stay out of debt.

Good thing most of the music i buy is from indie labels.

 

[dark_lord69]

The punishment doesn't fit the crime.
Over half a million dollars for songs that are worth $.99 each.
That's total BS!

Seriously this guy's life is ruined. I bet he would rather spend months in prison then have to pay this BS for the rest of his life. Unless this guy is rich and makes a lot of money the court will probably have to granish his wages for the rest of his life. Make it had for him to afford things he wants and needs. In the end it could drive him to stealing physical stuff from a brick and mortor store.

I don't understand how the RIAA has the right to sue this guy... Do they own the copy rights to these songs? OR are they the police for the record labels? The record labels must give them like power of attorney or some kind of proxy power to allow them to sue on thier behalf.

If you saw a little boy steal a 1 dollar toy from next to the register are you gonna make him pay $22,500? NO! At most he would have to pay like $200 in restitution and some community service and even that seems pretty harsh/high fine.

Bottom line...
F*CK THE RIAA and all record companies that allow them to sue on thier behalf!

 

[fulle]

Nice, someone who pirates 30 songs gets a punishment about 10 times worse than a Rapist in this country. I love our legal system.

 

[antilycus]

Meanwhile executive A from company B is stealing millions of dollars every month from the tax payers and they get no penalty at all. What a bullshit legal system. as the saying goes "There are those that believe in the legal system and those that have been witness to it"

 

[Kaiser_25]

[citation][nom]p05esto[/nom]Piss on the legal disclaimer...I pirate everything not nailed down. Simply in spite of the RIAA. I'll never buy a song or movie again.[/citation]
Damn right, those poor rock stars, dont have cash to pay for their multi million dollar homes...F#$% that, in my life i have never paid for music, and i dont plan to, especailly now with they way that they are screwing this guy...

 

[p05esto]

The news media and all sites like TOMs that reports on these things ned to make RIAA stand out like the ENEMY! Those kinds of fines for downloading songs is cruel and unusual punishment. It's time to demonize the RIAA and have them stopped.

When Time Warner proposed bandwidth caps the media mostly did the right thing along with the customers and called Time Warner out on their BS. The RIAA needs to be put down - only together can we all do this.

If someone downloads a $1 song illegally the punishment should be the exactly same as if they went to the dollar store and pocketed a pack of gum. There's no difference at all. How can a judge and jurry agree to these types of fines?

 

[2GooDrumr]

This. Just.. Bothers me... They need to make an example and manage to make themselves look even worse than they ever have with all this that they've been doing lately. If the artists got more of the money and the record industry, well, didn't this would be a little less distressing. and sums of money like this? even a thousand dollars per song at $30,000 for this student would be very painful.
something needs to be done