RIAA Settles With 12-Year-Old Downloader

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RIAA Settles With 12-Year-Old Downloader

Posted by timothy on Tuesday September 9, 2003 @02:05PM from the can't-make-this-stuff-up dept.

Murdock037 writes "It looks like the RIAA has rushed to settle with 12-year-old Brianna LaHara, after serving her with a lawsuit on Monday. It looks like her single mother will be paying a $2,000 fine to the RIAA for her daughter's song-swapping, which they had thought was legal. Said Brianna: 'I am sorry for what I have done. I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love.' What a relief this must be for the Rolling Stones."

22 of 1,688 comments (clear)

The fight of the century! by Tyrseil · 2003-09-09 14:07 · Score: 5, Funny

Ah, yes. The multi-billion dollar company vs. the 12 year old girl who lives in a city housing project. Truly a battle of titans.

--
Everything I say is a lie...
1. Re:The fight of the century! by KU_Fletch · 2003-09-09 14:26 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Hey, that 12 year old girl had it coming with her holier than thou "I like music" attitude. Good thing the RIAA stepped up and put an end to that rubish.
  
  --
  It's not stupid. It's advanced.
2. Re:The fight of the century! by Ro'que · 2003-09-09 14:34 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  She's going to have to do a shitload of babysitting to pay her mom back that two grand. Ouch.
See any serious problems with this story? by BrynM · 2003-09-09 14:07 · Score: 3, Funny

"See any serious problems with this story? Email our on-duty editor."
You guys might want to change this tag line for subscribers. I nearly e-mailed you to bitch about the RIAA.

--
US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
That was quick by Nick+of+NSTime · 2003-09-09 14:07 · Score: 5, Funny

It was very kind of our beloved RIAA to reach such an amicable settlement with this 12-year-old girl's mother. Now 50 Cent will surely be able to afford that ivory backscratcher he has had his eye on.
1. Re:That was quick by 13Echo · 2003-09-09 14:43 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Not the ivory backscratcher. He'll be able to buy a new bling-bling chalice for those pimpin' videos.
  
  In case you didn't notice, the chalice is all the rage in rap videos these days. You aren't pimp unless you have one.
2. Re:That was quick by MulluskO · 2003-09-09 14:44 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  50 Cent is not an artist.
  
  --
  
  Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
3. Re:That was quick by alex_ant · 2003-09-09 15:27 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  ...types the unbathed linux nerd sitting at his overclocked watercooled dual athlon and masturbating to hentai porn
The RIAA did not settle!!! by Muhammed+al-Sahhaf · 2003-09-09 14:12 · Score: 5, Funny

Do not believe the lies. The RIAA did not settle. The RIAA has achieved complete victory against the file swaping aggressors. Brianna LaHara martyred herself upon our ranks of lawyers. Our dogs will eat her stomach while our women beat her face with their shoes.

Sincerely,
Muhammed Saeed al-Sahhaf
Minister of Information, RIAA
Who's next? by vitaflo · 2003-09-09 14:15 · Score: 5, Funny

I'm just waiting for the RIAA to sue some deaf dude. You know it's only a matter of time.
Re:The RIAA sucks by WhiteKnight07 · 2003-09-09 14:33 · Score: 5, Funny

At either the voter registration office or your local gun range. Depending on how much patience and faith in the system you have.

--

We're going to make information free Mr. Anderson, whether you like it, or not.
Re: You don't think she really paid, do you? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-09-09 14:43 · Score: 5, Funny

They all of the sudden started speaking in polished engligh?

Polished what?
I'm ready for them. by nolife · 2003-09-09 14:49 · Score: 5, Funny

I just downloaded the Fox in Socks mp3...

If they come after me they are in for one hell of a tweetle beetle puddle paddle battle.

--
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
Re:The Best RIAA Quote by antiMStroll · 2003-09-09 14:53 · Score: 5, Funny

It's interesting to see that the RIAA has such a low opinion of human nature.
Hey, cut them some slack. They spend every work day consorting with record industry types. What do you expect?
Re:You don't think she really paid, do you? by cappadocius · 2003-09-09 15:01 · Score: 4, Funny

What I think happened here is that the RIAA swooped in and offered them a deal. More than likely they pushed the money to her somehow and it came back. Nice and neat. That's only my opinion without any facts.
But why? To prevent looking like a bully? They still do. If they really wanted to avoid a PR problem why not simply not sue her?
Just because they get the subpoena doesn't mean they have to follow up on it.
Mark my words, one of these days one of those subpoenas will find a lawmaker's kid on the other end, and the RIAA will run away from that court room as fast as they can.

--
omnia tua castra sunt nobis
Re:I took action today... by Guppy06 · 2003-09-09 15:34 · Score: 4, Funny

"What did you do today?"

I bumped up the size of my Freenet node space.
Allow me to translate . . . by CleverNickName · 2003-09-09 15:52 · Score: 5, Funny

For everyone who is shocked to hear such eloquence from a 12 year-old, and rightfully doubts the veracity of her statements, allow me translate her quote back into the original vernacular.

IM SORY FOR WUT I HAEV DONE!!!1!111 OMG LOL I LOVA MUSIC AND DONT WANT 2 HURT TEH ARTISTS I LOVE1!!!!!! WTF
Re:I took action today... by putaro · 2003-09-09 15:59 · Score: 3, Funny

I downloaded every Metallica track I could find.
Re:Embarrass their sorry asses. by NanoGator · 2003-09-09 16:22 · Score: 3, Funny

"Keep it in the news that the RIAA squeezed $2,000 dollars out of a poor pre-teen who thought she had paid for the service to begin with. If they're going to play PR games, there's no reason people who despise them can't do the same thing."

I say we buy $2,000 worth of CD's and return them the next day.

--
"Derp de derp."
Re:While you're at it by Sj0 · 2003-09-09 16:28 · Score: 3, Funny

Apprently stealing is legal so long as you don't like the people you steal from.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

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It's been a long time.
600+ score 1 comments, hope someone reads this: by herrd0kt0r · 2003-09-09 17:56 · Score: 3, Funny

i've got an idea re: how we can screw the RIAA. well, maybe not totally screw them, but just kinda mess with their heads. i hope someone reads this amidst the 600+ posts here and will comment on it. here it is:

i'm a bad singer.
i'm a poor guitarist.
i make really bad songs.
years ago, i decided that i will only use my god-given powers for good. and thusly, i hereby declare a RIGHTEOUS WAR upon the RIAA. here is my battle plan:
1. create several anti-RIAA songs. these can have catchy titles like "A RIAAL PAIN IN MY ASS," or "Fuck Tha RIAA," or even "The RIAA Took My Crack Money - All $2000 of It!"
2. offer them on p2p networks as "Metallica - King Nothing Style Song By Herr Doktor," or something similar. the songs will have some identifying tag in their names, or artist field.
3. make tons and tons of copies of these songs, naming them as different songs of various RIAA-affiliated artists.
4. ask you, the public, to always search for and download one of these crap songs every time you p2p.

perhaps some will be daring enough to host huge caches of these crap songs with fake titles. and maybe the RIAA will try to persecute us! and then we can win in court or something. something big. i think it's a money-making scam waiting to happen!

seriously, though. we're all waiting for the RIAA to bust the wrong guy, so why not make up a bunch of us as wrong guys for them to bust? trade in legitimate mp3s, but try to sucker the RIAA into prosecuting legal traffickers?

we should be taking the battle to THEM. ya, you know: the one being fought in the STREETS. of the INTARRNET. peezout, yo.
media companies hard up by geoff+lane · 2003-09-09 19:33 · Score: 3, Funny

If the media companies are so hard up as to need to extort $2K from a kid, perhaps we should start up a new charity to help them out?