Pay $220,000 for sharing 24 songs

Petrie. · **on:** October 07, 2007, 10:05:24 AM

http://www.news.com/the-iconoclast/8301-13...l?tag=nefd.lede

The latest in lawsuit city for music sharers. I'm not doubting she was caught fair and square--the penalty is absurd. For all you know she could've been sharing B-albums or something that's not terribly common or popular so nobody downloaded a thing. No report i've read mentions what type of song was being shared, popular or not. I'd fine her double the price of two cds (so $55) you know sort of a "Ok, you got caught, perhaps you'll think before you decide to share anything else".

Thoughts?

Manny Cav · **Reply #1 on:** October 07, 2007, 10:46:00 AM

I heard it was Pop music. Now, while I think that it's illegal and if she did do it, she should be punished, I also think that $9,250 a song is outrageous. I could be a kajillionaire if all the music on all of my CDs were worth that much each! :angry: But, then again, it is illegal, and there are those ominous warnings suggesting "$250,000 fines" on stuff like VHS tapes and whatnot.

DarkHououmon · **Reply #2 on:** October 07, 2007, 01:41:15 PM

That kind of fine is indeed outrageous. $9,000 for one song. *One* song. That's just....wrong in my opinion. It sounds more like they just want money, and don't care about being fair. No offense intended.

Malte279 · **Reply #3 on:** October 07, 2007, 04:45:25 PM

I don't suppose it is so much about the money of this lady, but more about trying to frighten others from sharing music on the internet. Downloading music, movies, and software has become very common in many countries and is not perceived as a crime by many. I guess that we are going to see more very draconian and widely publicized punishments of a few individuals who are to play not so much the role of the scapegoat but rather that of the deterrent. I don't know if deterrence will have the desired effect though.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #4 on:** October 08, 2007, 01:05:06 AM

I think it was mainly meant as discouragement to other software/movie/music downloaders/sharers. Like Malte said. I don't think that any song is worth anywhere near that much. That is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. <_<

Malte279 · **Reply #5 on:** October 08, 2007, 03:22:50 AM

They tried to use deterrence over here by starting a series of very drastic spots confronting potential music or movie pirates with the outlook on spending up to five years in prison.