The RIAA has drawn first blood in their file-sharing lawsuits by settling a lawsuit for $2,000...with a 12-year old girl:
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 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."
Yeah, I guess not. I'll sleep better knowing this threat to democracy and obscene compact disc profits has learned her lesson.
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.
In that case, fine her family another couple grand for being clueless. Kazaa and Morpheus are still free, as far as I know.
What's next for thr RIAA, kicking puppies? Endorsing NAMBLA? Releasing a Billy Ray Cyrus box set?
Of course, you have to read further to get to the truly horrific part of the article:
[Brianna's mother] said Brianna downloaded music by Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey, along with the themes to television shows like "Family Matters" and "Full House" -- and even the nursery song that begins, "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands."
The truth comes out; she wasn't fined for swapping files, but for her appalling lack of musical taste.
"Full House?" Ye gods.
nope, kazaa and morpheus are pay services now
unless you have an old version, which'll still connect.
there are so many hacked versions of kazaa im sure nobody pays for it... there's unstoppable amounts of ways to get these 'illegal' files.
This story is something else .... you know you would think that they would have an idea that enough people hate them already and that suing a little girl in the projects wouldn't make them look any better. But am I surprised? ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm ............ no ...