Slashdot Mirror
RIAA Grabs Student's Life's Savings
An anonymous reader writes "ABCNews is reporting on a 19-year-old college student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. He created a site named ChewPlastic.com where students could search for files on the university network. Mind you, this is not a music file sharing software, this is just a search engine. Presumably, the search engine was being used to search for music files as well. The folks over at the RIAA did not take too kindly to the idea, and sued the student. He settled but denies any wrongdoing. What was settlement, you ask? His life's savings."
that is pretty lame...someone needs to go after the RIAA...there out of control..
People suing Google because their 10 year old found porno?
Suing Yahoo because someone found copyright material on an unauthorized page? GASP!
--------
Free your mind.
what is it with government and big business.. they crap on us and we allow it. They lie to us and we allow it. We elect them.. we need to change things. If you don't vote don't bitch! ROCK THE VOTE.
doesn't the RIAA have something better to do than sue some college kid for making a search engine. hell, you can use Google and find some MP3s, I guess they are next.
When the RIAA does stuff like this, it just makes people more likely to steal from them.
Now we know where all the ex-KGB agents went. They now work for the RIAA. It's a sad time when your afraid to develop something because it 'MIGHT' be used for illegal things. Bastards!
Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed "nucular" accelerator on his back.
Sig changed for readability by G.W.
why the hell did he settle when it is obvious he'd won in court? and then he could countersue the shit out of them for compensation...
but then again.. 100 bucks might be worth not needing to..
Holy crap, I'm really glad I graduated from RPI in 2002 before the RIAA decided to sue the entire student body.
Seriously though, I'm gonna have to start donating money to support student lawsuits rather than to build new dorms if this keeps up.
Attention deficit disorder is a complicated issue, spanning several major... HEY LET'S GO RIDE BIKES!
and I don't care.
It's monday morning. I'm in a bad mood to begin with.
Perhaps I just have a chemical imbalance, or emotional issues, but I swear if I had some sort of automatic weapon available and access to many people at the RIAA....
or perhaps I have a flair for imagination. I'm not violent, but I have a *VERY* low tolerance to pushing around or abusing those with no means to defend themselves.
grrr...
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
"The people who run these Napster networks know full well what they are doing: Operating a sophisticated network designed to enable widespread music thievery," Cary Sherman, the president of the RIAA, said in a statement issued April 3. No, they are operating a sophisticated network designed to enable copyright infringement. Big difference. I know I'm beating a dead horse here but there needs to be an end to this thievery talk.
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
Very few articles make me angry. This one did.
RIAA _is_ a bully. Someone needs to stop them.
The only thing I can do is stop buying music - which will hurt the artists I like - and listen to it on the radio. Neither truly feeding the flames, nor the coffers of the RIAA.
BlackNova Traders
Corporations own the politicians. A perfect example of marketing in action. People vote for the person they see in commercials, not the candidate that best matches their beliefs. Most people couldn't tell you where the people they vote for stand on any issues at all with confidence. It takes money to buy commercials and as a consequence to win you have to kiss ass to corporate America.
This is just another example of a legitimate tool (like a hammer) which has "evil" uses (like a hammer) being struck down based solely on the fact that is has "evil" uses.
There is a saying.. Don't blame the hammer (or in this case, the hammer's creator) for being a hammer; blame the person stupid enough to crack open his friend's head with it.
It's unfortunate he settled so quickly instead of trying to get some backing from say the EFF or some other similar organization. I would love to have a nice search engine for my university's network.
In C++, friends can touch each others private parts.
"They agreed to allow Jesse to deny their allegations. They agreed to dismiss the case and all allegations against him," Andy said. "Basically they agreed that he didn't do anything wrong, but [they're] taking his 12 grand."
Andy is the kid's father, and he fully stands behind him, which is encouraging to read.
While Andy questions the motives and actions of the RIAA, he basks in pride at his son's steadfast resolve.
"He has stood up to the schoolyard bullies that are pulling this and he's said, 'You are not going to make me say something that's not true,'" Andy said.
Apart from wondering how things have changed since I was a student that any university student can have $12,000 in savings, this just plain sucks. How the #$%^ do they get away with this? Read that again...the kid gets to pay $12,000 for the privilege of being graciously permitted to continue denying he did anything wrong!
So the RIAA knows they haven't a leg to stand on (unless you can believe they were being altruistic in not forcing a black mark on the student's permanent record -- yeah, right), and still somehow forces him to pay them all his money.
Blackmail, 'blak-"mAl
a : extortion or coercion by threats especially of public exposure or criminal prosecution b : the payment that is extorted
With organizations like the RIAA, people are going to fear innovating. This kid, obviously fairly smart or innovative, gets slammed for coming up with a nifty way to searc for files on his school's network. Granted, he probably should have checked with the school, the President, God, Homer, and a few others to make sure it was ok to do, but he got nailed for solving a problem. In our lawsuit-happy society, people will fear getting sued and thus will stop trying to come up with solutions to problems.
It's just very scary how as a society we are unable to solve simple things now. I'd be afraid to open a lemonade stand because of the IRS coming down on me or someone suing me for getting sick, maybe I didn't meet some health code. And yet I probably could have made 50 people in my neighborhood happy. You're probably thinking "what does lemonade have to do with this?" A bit. Read the my first paragraph. Read the second. What kind of idea have you or a friend come up with? If not fearing the lawsuit itself, the costs associated with hiring a lawyer to make sure it's legal is certainly cost-prohibitive enough.
*sigh* I fear our great nation of innovators will be too scared to use their brains...
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
Basically by subsidizing the site, you're giving money to the RIAA. Had he had some cojones and stood up to the bully I'd happily contribute to his legal fund. This however.. no.
He settled
This seems a predictable outcome in a contest between Godzilla and Bambi.
Clearly, the student didn't have much money to defend himself in court, otherwise this obviously weak case would have been lost by the RIAA. If misuse of a local search engine was a crime, then may we expect RIAA to sue google for its role as people search for online music using that search engine? I don't think so.
The RIAA is reinforcing their reputation as greedy bullies, which will serve to exacerbate the problem they're trying to combat.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
You work phone tech support and you can afford to "appeal all the way to the supreme court"? Why not spend a tiny fraction of how much that'll cost on paying this guy the 12 grand the RIAA took?
I'm torn between the idea of helping out this guy who got the ol' shaft, and paying off the RIAA. I'd rather donate to a legal defense fund than OK paying off the music Mafia.
For a 19 year old college student, that is an amazing amount of money. It can mean the difference in a good graduate school and no graduate school. It might even mean the difference between continuing school. It will mean that he will probably come out of college in debt from student loans, not ready to buy a house and start a future. It means he won't have the liberty of waiting to take a job he will enjoy but will have to take the first good paying job available after he graduates. only $12000 That's worse than bank robbery, thats robbing a kid of a future. Yes he might be able to get another one, but perhaps not.
Little Brother, watching the watchers
Grrr... this just makes me want to pirate music.
I would have been a lot more willing to chip into a legal defense fund, just to prove the RIAA wrong, than to give money to some kid who just bent over and gave them $12,000. Hell, the university should have chipped in some of their legal staff, because what's next? Is the RIAA going to sue colleges for contracting somebody to provide them with search services?
"There is no night so forlorn, no mood so bleak, that it cannot be infused with pleasure by tender meat..." - R.W. Apple
Why do I get the feeling that -- instead of the "pirates" -- the RIAA is the one going around stealing money from honest people?
Just to remind everyone: when this was a new story (weeks ago, in the first weeks of may) it was calculated that his tuition for the semester was something on the order of $20,000. This is pretty standard for a decent school. Now, consider this: in order for him to go through the court proceedings, he would have missed his finals, thus losing him all the money he spent on that semester.
That would necessitate counter-suing, then, to recoup that $20,000, plus legal fees.
So in the end, if he wanted to fight this, he would have needed to not only argue for his innocence, but also that the RIAA was sufficiently innapropriate in suing him that they were responsible for both his legal fees (which could exceed several thousand dollars, most likely) and also his lost $20,000 from school. Conferring with a few friends who are lawyers in this field, the consensus is that to get the legal fees at least, he'd have to demonstrate far more than his innocence, but also the RIAA's foreknowledge of his innocence most likely. As for the lost $20,000, he'd have to demonstrate both the foreknowledge of his innocence, as well as an intentional effort to time their lawsuit to cause him those damages. Thats not locked in stone - different judges can apply the rules differently.
Basically, my point is that this kid lost $12,000 this way. If he had fought it, he'd have lost $20,000 at least, plus legal fees, plus potentially losing tens of thousands of dollars if he lost the court case. Worse, he could face academic punishments for failing a full courseload (that would depend on his school).
Now, I'm not saying this is fair, since I dont necessarily agree with the RIAA intentionally targetting individuals who cannot afford to fight back, but I'm just trying to make it clear to everyone here why this kid did what he did.
"Stumble before you crawl"
My favorite quote from the article: "They agreed to allow Jesse to deny their allegations. They agreed to dismiss the case and all allegations against him," Andy said. "Basically they agreed that he didn't do anything wrong, but [they're] taking his 12 grand."
Think about that next time you buy a CD and give these greedy pigs another $18.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned for SEGA. ..."
5,000 music CDs printed at a cost of 5 bucks each, and sold for 15 dollars is 50,000 dollars profit. In record contracts, usually you have to sell millions before you see an equivalent amount of money. People pay as much for a band t-shirt.
The best act of revenge against the RIAA would be to encouraged this with every local band you know. This would choke them off. Best of all, a good band could grow the business to be really huge, they would just cut out the middle men every step of the way.
If most bands did this, the big record companies would to cut back to their own traditional staples, such as classical music. And even then...
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Does anyone else notice that the RIAA's only suing people too poor to hire a lawyer to act in their defense? Personally, I think the next person that gets sued like this should just set up a PayPal account and get their case posted on Slashdot. I doubt they'd have to pay a cent.
Anything you might ever need to say about anything has already been said better by Penny Arcade.
If we really want to get serious and cripple the MPAA and the RIAA there is only one way to stop them: take away their money. Stop patronizing member companies. Don't buy their movies, don't buy their music. Don't watch their shows, and don't do anything that gives them monitary benefit. I claim our very freedoms are at stake. Aren't they worth giving up a little entertainment?
Hint: a lawyer who advises you to settle when you have done nothing wrong is not a good lawyer.
What planet do you live on? Litigation is a fact of life - sometimes, people get sued. Your mission as a defendant is to make it go away. If you have a really strong case, you can make it go away by fighting and winning. If you don't, or you don't have any money, or your time is worth enough that it's too much trouble to fight it, you settle.
It works this way even in criminal cases. It's a cost-benefit analysis: do I plea-bargain to just pay a fine and get a slap on the wrist, or do I defend it and risk a higher penalty? Whether or not you did anything has little to do with it.
A good lawyer is one who advises you to settle when it would be in your best interest. Foolish pride has nothing to do with it.
ASA
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
Hint: Don't talk about things you know nothing about.
He had two choices:
1) lose his life savings.
2) find a pro bono attorney and hope he doesn't lose his life savings and more.
1) The RIAA has deep pockets. He would have blown through $12k in attorney's fees in no time, had he decided to fight. I have a good attorney, and he charges $300/hr. $12k is one week of his time.
2) How many 'good' attorneys would work on a case such as this pro bono? Almost none. If the case were very high visibility (i.e. constantly in the pulbic's eye of short-sight), then he may have stood a chance of finding a good attorney who would represent him pro bono.
Also, you might want to tone down the "challenge" language if you really want them to take the bait. Of course, you can probably also recruit some fellow defendants from the small group of people already in the RIAA's crosshairs and make your legal defense group a bit broader. It does have the advantage of getting into the legal battles and getting some battlefield experience before becoming a target personally.
Good luck.
> The only thing I can do is stop buying music
Wrong. You can donate to the EFF. You can purchase music or otherwise support artists on CD Baby, an "online record store that sells CDs by independent musicians" (not distributors). There's pleny of things you can do to thwart the efforts of the RIAA mafia.
First, I would say that helping the kid is a better "good thing" than paying the RIAA is a "bad thing." To them, $12,000 (or whatever the lifesavings of an undergrad) is nothing save symbolic - to him, it's a ton. If we help him out, any symbolic victory of theirs is lost, he has no financial damage, so effectively all that's happened is that 120 people are out $100 and the RIAA is up 12 large.
The problem of course is that 1) this will encourage people in the future to settle if they think they'll get paid off, and 2) the RIAA will lose whatever shred of remorse they MIGHT have had about nuking some poor kid (laughable, I know), as they'll see it as a rightful, distributed tax.
So I think you're right - I think we need to get the EFF on board, help collect a war chest, and defend the next poor bastard they try this with. That way, there will be a clear, established precedent for the next time they try this crap after that.
The sad thing in this case is they have no leg to stand on. He never collected info about what was traded, and never got the opportunity to be helpful to the RIAA by blocking mp3's (which was one of the counts against Napster). So I have little doubt the RIAA would have lost given appropriate representation.
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
IANAL either, but legal defense costs money.
If I bait the *AA into prosecuting me, falsely or otherwise, I'll lose lots of money and time defending myself. _Their_ lawyers are already budgeted for and paid. _My_ lawyers can drain my savings in a few days.
The litmus test for the merits of your little honeypot is whether you're willing to try this _yourself_ and face the risks of your own idea. Trolling for someone else to do it doesn't cut the mustard.
heÂro (hîr)
n. pl. heÂroes
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
The recording industry has a long history of ripping young aspiring artists off, so it's easy chicken to do the same to students and consumers. ;)
The RIAA is just a means to put a good face on a government approved racket. A day of recongning is approaching when this crack-headed industry will be out of work, out of cocain and out of fsk. We just need an application to aid musicians to sell directly to the public. We don't need 'Death Records' and similar idiots to kick butt. It's time to burn the big Lama's ass
While Andy questions the motives and actions of the RIAA, he basks in pride at his son's steadfast resolve.
"He has stood up to the schoolyard bullies that are pulling this and he's said, 'You are not going to make me say something that's not true,'" Andy said.
Sorry, dad, he didn't stand up to the schoolyard bully. Instead, he said "I'll give you all my money if you don't hit me", and it worked. This is the wrong approach. I know it's intimidating for a 19-year-old college student to be threatened by a powerful industry, but he gave in and gave them all his money. That will simply encourage the bully further, it will not help the problem.
ChewPlastic.com is asking for donations to help recover the $12,000 settlement. As of June 6, the site has collected more than $1,700.
Yeah, great. Why don't I just make that check out to the RIAA? Seriously. Tell us ahead of time next if this happens again and we'll get together a legal defense fund for him. That way the money goes to an attorney, not the RIAA.
I'm sorry to be such a jerk, but IMNSHO a settlement of this type is usually seen as a de facto confession of guilt. I understand why someone would want to back down when threatened by the RIAA, but please don't call him "brave" for doing it.
Karma to burn, damn the torpedos...
Michael
Do you have ESP?
I just couldn't. I think I'd completely flip out, barricade myself in my dorm/apartment before I settled, and call/email every news outlet in the world. Let people see the cops called in to go after a student whose only crime was to write a search engine.
--- Ban humanity.
Okay...
The whole thing I'm not getting, is how is this good for the music industry?
Sure, they're bullying college students, who are indecently the target audience for a lot of the stuff they produce. They might make a few grad here and there, but this is the worst possible publicity they could EVER hope for.
In yet another move to demonstrate how woefully behind the times they are, they have beaten yet another college student into submission. That's good. But I would be willing to bet that there are probably a few hundred more college students who will never buy another CD as a result of this.
I think the reason sales of CD's are down is because people are disgusted with the behavior of the Music industry. In particular, the RIAA has acted in a manner that is not only disturbing, but only questionably legal.
Wouldn't it make sense that in a time of slower sales, that they would be focusing their efforts on promotion of their products, R&D product development, cheap sales ploys to get people to.. I don't know... buy stuff? This pre-occupation with internet file sharing is not only in bad taste, but it's a complete waste of resources.
This signature has Super Cow Powers
I'll be labelled a troll, but here's how I see it...
I feel badly for the kid. He created a search engine that was useful for numerous things beyond mp3 files. The RIAA learned of the site and because it COULD be used to find and download mp3 files, he got sued and lost his life savings. Just another example of how there is little justice in the world.
Still, I can't help wondering how much he explored the option to fight the RIAA in court. There are numerous organizations that would probably have helped him out if he went to court by providing money or legal cousel. Even if these organizations didnt help him, a plea to Slashdot or the general public would probably have helped him raise enough cash to fight a decent legal battle. I know i would rather dontae money to help pay legal expenses than to simply reward a student who, in a way, took the easy way out and accepted injustice. Saying he didn't have the resources is a cop out.
So now the student is begging for money to replenish his life savings. Pretty smart deal actually, when you consider the state of internet panhandling. I don't know the site, but there was a girl who racked up a huge amount of debt (over $20k, I believe) buying expensive shoes and gucci handbags. Well, she couldn;t pay for them, so she decides to ask others to bail her out. she ended up getting a hell of a lot more than she needed to pay off her debt and learned nothing except that people are stupid and will give money to anybody. She even got a book deal out of it.
He'll more than likely receive a hell of a lot more money than he had before the RIAA came knocking... and all because he settled an unjust lawsuit. Not a bad way to make a living...
Step 1: Create search engine for college
Step 2: Inform RIAA of your search engine
Step 3: Settle out of court by giving life savings
Step 4: Beg on internet for people to replenish life savings
step 5: PROFIT!!!
couldn't the student have claimed that he was protected under section 512 of the dmca? seems to me (admitidely after only a very quick glance) that he qualifies for the safe harbour provision.
... how embarressing! :o)
ooh, this is my first ever post. been reading for ages and just never said anything
Isn't that the way civil law works in the USA? The RIAA hasn't only sued this guy, they've sued numerous others as well... and won.
It only works that way if the case actually goes to court and has a ruling handed down by a judge. Out of court settlements have absolutely zero influence on the law. I don't believe any suits have actually been brought to full term - instead the RIAA has settled every single one out of court, and all (I think) without admissions of guilt. Just money. And don't bring up the last one against 3 different students -- they all settled without a judge's ruling, and none admitted guilt (yes, I checked).
Suing people doesn't make a lick of difference until a judge actually rules on a case. To date, that hasn't happened. And I think the RIAA is afraid of that honestly -- they're simply using their much larger pockets to bully the little guys into line. And, frankly, defending yourself is inadvisable. You'll wind up paying far more in legal fees than you'd have to pay them -- and your lawyer will tell you this, straight up. The RIAA can easily drag the civil suit out over a number of years - they have the lawyers on retainer and it's a minor expense to them. Having a lawyer in court 4-8 hours/month for 2-3 years could cost you nearly $60,000 for court time alone (at $200/hr, which is low). And that doesn't count time spent doing research on the case - so double or treble it.
Is it surprising people are settling? Not a bit. Nobody wants to be the sacrificial lamb -- and you're kidding yourself if you think you do. Oh, and anyone with the resources to actually defend against this kind of thing won't be sued. They may be bullies, but they're not going to try and beat up the kid with bodyguards. Let him keep his lunch money -- there are far more undefended targets available.
This could also have the opposite effect. Since the RIAA is already putting out fake mp3s to piss off people searching for songs, putting out MORE fakes might just make their job easier.
:)
I do like the idea though, very "out of the box" and bold
no comment
However, it only takes 3 guys with some modpoints, an agenda, and a bad attitude to wreak some karma havoc.
Contact Me (got tired of viruses emailing me).
Lies, Damned Lies & Statistics...
A PD may spend more time in court than their more effective private counterpart. However, this doesn't gaurantee that the PD is actually spending any more time per client.
I'd rather have a DA's frat buddy on retainer than someone that can only bring idealism to the table.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
If he really wants to make a statement, he should make the payment in the smallest units of currency available, such as 5 cent coins (or 1cent coins if they're still valid in the US). If two parties have signed an agreement, they can not refuse legal physical currency as payment.
So if the RIAA gets any big ideas about obtaining large sums of money out of people for marketing purposes, they'll have to deal with several tons of rather tiny metallic objects.
After they've been through the experience of having trucks pull up to their offices with tens of thousands of dollars of small-change coins in buckets laden in the back, they may change their tactics somewhat. It'd drive them mad.
The RIAA just shot themselves in the foot with a rocket launcher by doing this. Before, when they were going after napster, they could dupe people into believing they were the victims. But now that they've taken a college students life savings for running a site that could turn up pirated music in it's searches they look like the greedy bastards they are.
read my blog
musings on politics and technol
(1) Come on people, don't you know there must be more here than meets the eye? Do you really believe it was a simple as an app to search a network? I mean, if that's all it truly was, than Microsoft should be next on the RIAA's hit list since they've included a search feature in Windows since what, 98? And it can work over network shares same as local drives.
(2) I have a wife, two kids and a house, so I likely would have settled faster than this kid did. I have far too much to lose in my estimation, and this overrides my principals quite frankly, because the principal of being there for my family is more important to me than fighting a battle like this. However, if I was in *HIS* shoes, I would have fought this to the bitter end (assuming things really were as this article makes them appear). He had comparatively far less to lose, and I would have gambled it in his place. Forget lawyer costs. I want my day in court, and if that means I have to defend myself, so be it. I am 100% sure I could get a ton of publicity if nothing else, which the RIAA would hate I can assure them, and I'm close to 100% sure I could have gotten some lawyer to take the case for nothing anyway. There's always some lawyer out there willing to try just to make a name for himself. I'm guessing even the worst lawyer would be better than me! But in the end, getting in court, getting everything in the public record and having my say would be worth the risk to me. I mean, in the end if they get a $100,000 settlment against me, they're either going to toss me in jail or take the $50 a week I'm going to be able to afford. I'd risk it. This all assumes I really did nothing wrong, but again, I don't think that's the case.
I mean, let's face it... the RIAA are a bunch of Nazi-like terrorists, to put it bluntly. They need to be stopped, and stopped soon.
But I don't think they are stupid enough to outright harass someone that really has done nothing wrong. There is TONS of precedence for an application like this, and while I suppose it's possible they found the weakest target they could to, what, get rid of all search engines?, and went after him to start down that path, I really don't think so.
What I firmly believe is there is more here than we know, the kid was doing something else that wasn't as innocuous as searching a network for files.
And if that really *IS* all he did, then he's an asshole for caving in so easily, plain and simple. I realize there would have been tremendous risk for him, and I also realize it's easy to say when your not in that position, but at some point you have to have the strength of your convictions above all else and fight for them when you really have to. He didn't do that, and his father is patting him on the back for it too. At least I can see where he gets it from.
If a pion (n-) collides with a proton in the woods & noone is there to hear it, does lamdba decay into the source pa
The term 'life savings' is misapplied here for dramatic effect, but lacks the significance it holds when it's properly used.
'Life Savings' usually applies to some little old lady or elderly couple who have scrimped and saved over a lifetime. Applying it this way to some young 19 year old pup, unless he has a terminal illness and will be dying in six months, is ridiculous.
I see this as a 2-fold effect:
(1) You deny them money to lobby and litigate, and...
(2) You destroy the hope of artists who want to make tons and tons of cash (maybe) off being signed to a music company who is aligned with the RIAA.
I think the artists are just as complicit in this as the RIAA - they create the demand for a corp. like the RIAA to exist, and they're on the front lines helping us sign our innocence away to corps. that treat us as guilty first. Yes, I feel sorry that some bands will be hurt by this action, but making a transition to a new model of music distribution and moneymaking is gonna hurt somewhere, and I believe it's going to have to hurt the artists first since any other solution seems to be a pipe-dream and blocked by greed and lobbying/litigation.
Yes, lots of people keep buying CDs. Everyone here who hates the RIAA and wants to see its end will have to do their best to steal CDs and music for all their friends and family. Be the first one to say "Hey, never mind buying the CD, I'll download you a copy and make you the CD for free."
Hell, we're being treated like criminals already. Might as well start acting like it and REALLY show them who we are.
i'm amazed that i survived - an airbag saved my life.
I disagree. The answer isn't one or the other -- the answer is NEITHER. Don't support the 'AAs, OR the artists. They're in this together; Pimps and whores. Drug makers and drug dealers. You're the addicted customer they can count on to come back time and time again to lay down your money for a temporary distraction.
Don't you see? By supporting one, you support both. The only way to fix this situation is to support artists who completely refuse to associate with the major labels or just attempt to live without all the stupid noise. Before recording technology existed, people lived their lives just fine without being subjected to never-ending soundtracks.
Or are you afraid to admit that you're addicted to their silly noise?
One last parting thought. As recently as 30 years ago, music was created by adults for adults; the "bandstand" programs were popular, middle-age adults routinely listened to music in social settings (danced to it, even!). But these consumers are a picky bunch -- they demand high quality which is difficult and expensive to produce, so the music industry has given up on adults as a lost-cause and today they're selling music by kids, for kids because children are easier to control, tempt, and addict. Think about it.
Shouldn't they have sent him a "cease and desist" letter first as a warning before lawyering him?
Oh, wait, that would have been the reasonable thing to do...
-Stephen
Not only questionably legal, but to me it sounds like plain old fashioned extortion: "We found footprints, so we think you walked on our sidewalk. Give us all your money and we won't break your kneecaps."
Hey, RIAA, you wanted to make sure a whole class of people never, ever buy another new CD? You got it.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
You idiot.
Life savings = all he had saved to this point in his life.
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
This is a clear cut case of EXTORTION!
âoeGive us $12K or we'll sue!â
Jesse admitted no wrong-doing and they still took his money in exchange for not suing. That is extortion, exactly like having the Mafia knock on your door and offer you âoeprotectionâ for a sum of money in exchange for not taking over your business/killing you. He (or someone involved) needs to bring this to the attention of the FBI â" assuming that they are less corrupt than the RIAA.
(Note: FBI guys, could you please inform me if you are or are not corrupt, and whether you will take this case or not? Thanks)
This is sick. If someone dreams up an instant karma bitchslap for these cretins a la Ralsky, sign me up for it. Get a war chest together and I'll pledge $100 (not a lot but I'm a student, I'm not exactly rolling in money. However I consider the right not to be fucked up the ass for running an indexing service to be a right that is worth defending). Enough's enough, this has crossed the line. This is no better than highway robbery.
As to whoever executed this little act... $12k huh? Enjoy your hard earned instalment for your new BMW you piece of shit.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
True, but if we fight them and lose, then the next fight will be a lot harder. The trick is to make sure that we do win, and choosing the correct battles is part of this. On the other hand, if this case did sound like a good bet if it is reported accurately by the linked article. The settlement probably included a clause preventing a civil counter-suit, but can not provide indemnity from criminal prosecution. I would like to see the EFF providing the authorities with a large wad of documentation requesting, and providing the evidence for, a criminal prosecution of the RIAA (or executives thereof) for fraud, extortion, demanding money with menaces, and anything else that they think might stick.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
I think the reason sales of CD's are down is because people are disgusted with the behavior of the Music industry. In particular, the RIAA has acted in a manner that is not only disturbing, but only questionably legal.
The problem with this statement is you have to qualify it. People who know what the RIAA is doing are disgusted by it. Most people, however, are completely oblivious. It's kind of like the Patriot Act. Ask somebody on the street what they think about it, and I bet close to 90% will say "What the hell is that?"
Who's to blame? Hard to say. News media, apathy, ignorance... People can't take a stand for or against an issue if they don't know about it or don't care.
I think the reason sales of CD's are down is because people are disgusted with the behavior of the Music industry.
No. People who read Slashdot are disgusted with the behavior of the music industry. The general public is completely unaware and doesn't give a flying fuck. Sales are down because of the economy, period. The general public still lusts after the latest manufactured pop crap MTV whores, they just don't buy quite as much with the economy the way it is. Let me repeat, though: they have no idea what's going on with this stuff and they don't give a fucking crap anyway.
Move along, nothing to see here.
I said "a whole class of people", not "everyone". The class being those who read the story and were sufficiently pissed off by this blatant extortion that they now feel an urge to AVOID paying for music.
And yes, you're perfectly correct re "Never attribute to morality that which is adequately explained by economics". But don't discount the "feeling fucked over" factor. When people feel screwed, they look for ways to *avoid* paying what they would have cheerfully ponied up if only they'd been given a fair deal.
And as we all know, the RIAA doesn't deal fairly.
So in this case, it's helping push people from "Why should I pay for what I can get free?" to "Why should I pay for that if I gotta bend over first? Screw 'em, I'll just steal it."
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
And note this:
"In addition to cash up front, labels also afford entrée into the rarified world of radio play, and access to the best shelf space at retail. They still have the channels."
A major reason the RIAA stomps on filesharing and streaming is because it displaces radio as the "free samples" conduit, thus negating their stranglehold on what is allowed into the market.
The other major reason being that P2P amounts to free distribution of "free samples" for artists who otherwise couldn't get radio time, let alone CD sales -- again, negating the RIAA stranglehold on both the market and on what is marketed and by whom.
Copyright infringement, while real enough in itself, for the RIAA is still mainly an excuse for exerting control.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
I used Google to search for St. Anger (Metallica's newest release) and found it in about 10 seconds. RIAA should go after Yahoo, Google, Lycos, et. al and leave this kid alone. What a bunch of felch-monkeys....
PS: Perl isn't proper grammar, either.
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
People are pointing out that RIAA is only going after an easy meal in this case. And, that they won't go after Yahoo or Google (or MSN or AOL) because those beasts have teeth and claws of their own.
But...think who the RIAA are really after. They are not after file sharing geeks regardless of the network. They are after geeks that build file sharing networks in the first place. They want to kill off the *next* napster before it is even born, by getting the message out to would-be developers that the RIAA actually *prefer* to track down and eat little people like them, and clearly have developed the staff and techniques (and moles?) to do so.
It really is horrendous and a blatant play to quash innovation in a field that is not only the next phase of the growth of the Internet, but also one that will erode the distribution Mafias of several big industrys besides the RIAA. What may be at stake here is the very concept of market control through scarcity.
=^..^= all your rodent are belong to us
If you could do something to make the RIAA regret this actions, what would it be?
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
How do you figure? The kid settled for $12,000. That's what's being reported by the national media. Period. If you manage to help him recover the money, that might get reported on a few nerd websites; but I don't see it damaging the RIAA's "symbolic victory" one iota.
I doubt we're getting the whole story -- here, or with the other four students who settled last month. I'd like to see someone ask them one question: "Did you have any pirated music?" I've never used Napster/KaZaA/etc. in my life. (I'm a Mac user.) If the RIAA came after me for writing one of these programs, you can bet that would be the first thing out of my mouth to any reporter who'd listen: "I have never traded music."
The software may not be as devious as the RIAA is painting it; but if these kids did in fact have pirated MP3s, then it's going to be pretty tough to convince a jury that their hands were squeaky-clean.
And BTW, did anyone else notice the kid's father beaming with pride? "He has stood up to the schoolyard bullies that are pulling this," he says of his son. The kid forked over his life's savings, without a hint of protest. It's pretty hard to keep a straight face listening to the nerd tell you how he beat up the bully, while his nose is still bleeding and his lunch money's gone.
One final note: This kid was a college student at a polytech school, with $12,000 in his bank account. You know a lot of college students who are sitting on $12,000? If you want to donate your money to charitable use, that's commendable; but there are better fronts to fight in this battle, and I suspect there are more needy victims than little Jesse Jordan.
My two cents.
crib
Please don't read my journal
...imagine what they can get from Google. After all, they do exactly the same thing wholesale that he does retail.
This just goes to show that the RIAA is in it just for the money -- it doesn't care whether people do "the right thing" or not.
I just wish something would take the initiative and hit them with a barratry suit.
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Punctanym: alternate spelling of words using punctuation or numerals in place of some or all of its letters; see 'leet'
Microsoft may be the ones to trigger it, too.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing