One of the Recording Industry Association of America’s primary witnesses in its successful case against a Minnesota woman accused of illegally downloading music, a lawyer with Sony, reportedly said he was “shocked” at the size of the fine involved in the verdict handed down in the case.
On 18 June, a Minnesota federal court ruled that Jammie Thomas-Rasset was guilty of copyright violation for downloading 24 songs off the Kazaa file-sharing network, fining her $1.92 million (£1.16m) —or $80,000 per song.
“We were shocked. I suspected we were going to win, but I really thought they would come in with a lower number,” Gary Wade Leak informed an audience at a weekend alumni event at Columbia University, as reported by Ars Technica.
The Associated Press quoted a post-trial Thomas-Rasset as saying, “There’s no way they’re ever going to get that … I’m a mom, limited means, so I’m not going to worry about it now.” Perhaps with that fact in mind, the RIAA was reportedly willing to settle for the far lesser amount of $3,000 to $5,000.
This was actually Thomas-Rasset’s second trial; the first, in 2007, ended with the judge declaring a mistrial after she had been fined $222,000 (£134,000), which translates to $9,250 for each of the 24 downloaded songs.
The RIAA has launched over 35,000 cases against people accused of illegal music downloads, with the substantial bulk of them settled out of court, often for comparatively miniscule amounts of money. Despite the ubiquity of peer-to-peer networks, the RIAA has taken something of a scorched-earth approach to digital piracy, sending dozens of letters to individuals it suspects of downloading content.
Those attempts have occasionally led to public-relations backfires, as in the 2005 suit that the RIAA leveled in U.S. District Court against 83-year-old Gertrude Walton for downloading music under the online handle “smittenedkitten.” The only problem was that Walton had died the previous December. The RIAA dropped the suit.
However, the organisation still seems determined to prosecute Joel Tenenbaum, a Boston student accused of illegally downloading music who’s being defended by Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson in the upcoming trial.
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Gary Wade Leak surprises even the best after his award winning performance of "The Victim In Me". A stupendous rendition of a former colleague Robert John "Mutt" Lange and former wife Shania Twain's "The Woman In Me". It astounds the average observer, that such a rehearsed and precariously nervous Legal Counsel would be "surprised" that after painting such a negative picture about the financial forecast of SONY BMG resting on the P2P file sharing of Jammie Rasset. SONY BMG / ZOMBA / Jive Records would never assume Intellectual Properties not rightfully belonging to them. The reality is, the members and associate members are part of a grand PONZI SCHEME that unlawfully assumes copyright of artisans worldwide. These common thieves are in for the awakening of their collective, corporate manipulative lives. The reality of SOCIAL REVOLUTION is on the door step of those who would protect their right to take what is not lawfully theirs, while hiding behind the safety vale of the "definition of Corporation".
I simply invite any one of the alumni or distinguished guests to have public or private conversation to hear of the actual day to day business of SONY BMG ZOMBA / Jive Records. Anyone with individual interest or holdings in these corporations is also part of obstruction of justice. As long as individuals have a vested interest in Illegal Corporate manipulations, they have an equal part in the sharing of the accountabilities associated with theft. Watch as SONY BMG ZOMBA / JIVE RECORDS, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Matt Haywood, Britney Spears, Eric Lavine, Sara Hadaway, Dave Schmidt, Bruce Scavuzzo, experience financial loss and public accountability for their direct infringement of Michael Dean Hajas.
mdean707@hotmail.com