Gene Honda Civic Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 RIAA Sues 12 year old honor student This is just a crappy yahoo link so it will inevitably change in 5 minutes.... Here's the article: Girl, 12, Settles Piracy Suit for $2,000 Tue Sep 9, 7:20 PM ET Add Entertainment - AP to My Yahoo! By TED BRIDIS, AP Technology Writer WASHINGTON - A 12-year-old girl in New York who was among the first to be sued by the record industry for sharing music over the Internet is off the hook after her mother agreed Tuesday to pay $2,000 to settle the lawsuit, apologizing and admitting that her daughter's actions violated U.S. copyright laws. The hurried settlement involving Brianna LaHara, an honors student, was the first announced one day after the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) filed 261 such lawsuits across the country. Lawyers for the RIAA said Brianna's mother, Sylvia Torres, contacted them early Tuesday to negotiate. "We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal," Torres said in a statement distributed by the recording industry. "You can be sure Brianna won't be doing it anymore." Brianna added: "I am sorry for what I have done. I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love." The case against Brianna was a potential minefield for the music industry from a public relations standpoint. The family lives in a city housing project on New York's Upper West Side, and they said they mistakenly believed they were entitled to download music over the Internet because they had paid $29.99 for software that gives them access to online file-sharing services. Even in the hours before the settlement was announced, Brianna was emerging as an example of what critics said was overzealous enforcement by the powerful music industry. The top lawyer for Verizon Communications Inc. charged earlier Tuesday during a Senate hearing that music lawyers had resorted to a "campaign against 12-year-old girls" rather than trying to help consumers turn to legal sources for songs online. Verizon's Internet subsidiary is engaged in a protracted legal fight against the RIAA over copyright subpoenas sent Verizon customers. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also alluded to Brianna's case. "Are you headed to junior high schools to round up the usual suspects?" Durbin asked RIAA President Cary Sherman during a Senate Judiciary hearing. Durbin said he appreciated the piracy threat to the recording industry, but added, "I think you have a tough public relations campaign to go after the offenders without appearing heavy-handed in the process." Sherman responded that most people don't shoplift because they fear they'll be arrested. "We're trying to let people know they may get caught, therefore they should not engage in this behavior," Sherman said. "Yes, there are going to be some kids caught in this, but you'd be surprised at how many adults are engaged in this activity." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowerCaseRepublican Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 As Fat Mike from Fat Wreck Chords put it: "Can't the recording industry admit recording as we know it is over? The keg is tapped, the cops are at the door. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubKilla Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 The family lives in a housing project but has $2000 readily available to settle the lawsuit, a computer, and $29.99 to pay for downloading software? Interesting. I wonder what other "necessities" the family has while US Taxpayers pay for their room and board . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 As Fat Mike from Fat Wreck Chords put it: "Can't the recording industry admit recording as we know it is over? The keg is tapped, the cops are at the door. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here." Carels just don't "go away" they will fight tooth and nail to keep their meal ticket intact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowerCaseRepublican Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 Cartels just don't "go away" they will fight tooth and nail to keep their meal ticket intact. Damn skippy they will. :fyou RIAA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowerCaseRepublican Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/story/0...3511270,00.html PeerGuardian. It blocks all known RIAA IP addys from your computer. :fyou RIAA You've even bullied a f***ing 12 year old. Eat s***. Eat my s*** and die in a car fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Honda Civic Posted September 12, 2003 Author Share Posted September 12, 2003 Music Firms, DJ Offer to Pay 12-Year-Old's Fine Thu Sep 11,10:41 PM ET By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several Internet music services and a disc jockey have offered to reimburse a New York woman who paid $2,000 to settle charges that her 12-year-old daughter illegally copied music online. P2P United, a coalition of "peer-to-peer" song-swapping networks, said on Thursday it was trying to locate Sylvia Torres so it could pay the legal settlement she reached with the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) on Tuesday. Rochester, New York radio disc jockey Brother Wease also offered to pay Torres' legal bill, and online music retailer MusicRebellion.com said it would allow Torres' daughter, Brianna Lahara, to download $2,000 worth of free music from its industry-sanctioned site. However, the would-be benefactors all said they would not extend their offers to the 260 other individuals who face RIAA lawsuits for copying music through Kazaa, Grokster and other peer-to-peer networks. "It seems fitting that P2P United is willing to pay Brianna's settlement fees since it was their members who induced her infringement in the first place," said RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy. Lahara, a Manhattan honor student who offered Madonna (news - web sites)'s "Material Girl" and some 1,000 other songs through Kazaa, has emerged as something of a poster girl for those who denounce the RIAA's legal campaign as heavy-handed. 'BULLIES' "Out of all the millions of people who have downloaded, some girl in a housing project in New York City has got to come up with two grand?" said Wease, who offered to help through his charitable children's fund. "I just feel that these people are bullies," said Grokster President Wayne Rosso, a member of the P2P United trade group, which offered to pay Torres' bill. "They're like the show-business version of the Taliban." Lamy said the recording industry was not targeting 12-year-olds. The only information it had when it filed the suits was the name and address of the Internet account holder, he added. "The objective of this campaign is not to win a popularity contest, but to communicate a message of deterrence so people realize there can be consequences to this illegal behavior," Lamy said. Rosso said the industry should try to work out a solution with Grokster and other peer-to-peer networks so record labels can be paid for the billions of songs downloaded monthly. One solution could be a flat, per-song royalty rate similar to that paid by radio stations and Webcasters, he said. Lamy said a flat-fee approach would be impossible because it would have to encompass movies, books and other copyrighted material traded online, as well as take foreign users into account. Traffic has remained steady on peer-to-peer networks since the lawsuits were filed, officials at the networks said. RIAA members include Vivendi Universal's Universal Music, AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music Group, Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites).'s Sony Music, Bertelsmann AG (news - web sites)'s BMG, and EMI Group Plc (news - web sites) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 14, 2003 Share Posted September 14, 2003 Rock on! I love the fact that so many have offered to step up for this 12 year old. The more bad Pub that RIAA gets out of this the better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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