Suing Students Semesters at a Time
A reporter in the Kansas City Star coined it the “copyright crackdown”. The copyright crackdown- a ridiculous amount of law suits filed by the RIAA against poor college students. Lets just acknowledge for a moment: these students don’t have money – they are stealing (file sharing illegally) because they can’t pay for the music in the first place. The association has sued about 18,000 computer users nationwide since September 2003, that figure includes about 1,000 university students. In the association's latest effort to “crackdown on piracy colleges nationwide have been given letters to forward to students suspected of music piracy. Students are advised to settle with a broker at the association first, in order to save money, time and give the students a chance to settle early with no public mark on their record.
It is happening everywhere a rumored thirty-something on USC’s campus have been prosecuted and numbers keep growing. There has been outrage on the internet about he RIAA and many college campuses are going haywire. Kids will be kids – but the RIAA is forgetting the fact that these “kids” and their “kids” and their friends are CUSTOMERS- or shall I say no longer customers.
A letter to one Ohio University student told her that she distributed 787 audio files, putting her total minimum potential liability at more than $590,000. The letter further explained that the minimum damages under the law are $750 for each copyright recording that had been shared. I mean come on – are they crazy? Why would anyone sue a young college student up to $600,000 in fines- the poor thing hasn’t be able to make any money; and will not because for the rest of her working career, money will be shoveled out to the RIAA.
Back to the advisement of settling early: the RIAA quoted $3,000 is the standard settlement offer, though cases have settled for as much as $5,000. Ok 3,000 is a lot less than 300,000, but still- are students penalized this much for smoking an illegal drug? Its music we are talking about. However riduculous..be warned -settle early.
It seems the RIAA want to make a clear message- “don’t mess with us”. Yet instead I read it as – “uh... we are scared…because the younger generations are more computer savvy than us – and due to the fact we have no idea how to outsmart hackers and come up with better plans – we are going to sue….ya sue! Because we have more money and more power than you.”
It is happening everywhere a rumored thirty-something on USC’s campus have been prosecuted and numbers keep growing. There has been outrage on the internet about he RIAA and many college campuses are going haywire. Kids will be kids – but the RIAA is forgetting the fact that these “kids” and their “kids” and their friends are CUSTOMERS- or shall I say no longer customers.
A letter to one Ohio University student told her that she distributed 787 audio files, putting her total minimum potential liability at more than $590,000. The letter further explained that the minimum damages under the law are $750 for each copyright recording that had been shared. I mean come on – are they crazy? Why would anyone sue a young college student up to $600,000 in fines- the poor thing hasn’t be able to make any money; and will not because for the rest of her working career, money will be shoveled out to the RIAA.
Back to the advisement of settling early: the RIAA quoted $3,000 is the standard settlement offer, though cases have settled for as much as $5,000. Ok 3,000 is a lot less than 300,000, but still- are students penalized this much for smoking an illegal drug? Its music we are talking about. However riduculous..be warned -settle early.
It seems the RIAA want to make a clear message- “don’t mess with us”. Yet instead I read it as – “uh... we are scared…because the younger generations are more computer savvy than us – and due to the fact we have no idea how to outsmart hackers and come up with better plans – we are going to sue….ya sue! Because we have more money and more power than you.”
posted by Danielle Pizzorni @ 7:54 PM
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