RIAA Asks Famed Pirate To Join Anti-Piracy Campaign

[Andy Chalk]

RIAA Asks Famed Pirate To Join Anti-Piracy Campaign

The Recording Industry Association of America has offered to reduce Jammie Thomas-Rasset's $222,000 fine if she takes part in an anti-piracy campaign, but she says she won't do it.

Jammie Thomas-Rasset is likely the most famous music downloader in America. In a case that's dragged on since 2007, she has fought and lost against the RIAA, and after the Supreme Court declined to hear the case found herself stuck with a fine of $222,000 for sharing 24 songs on Kazaa.

It's so wildly out of line that even the RIAA, an organization not known for shame, seems embarrassed by it and has been trying to get her to accept a settlement [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119550-Woman-to-Pay-RIAA-220-000-For-24-Downloaded-Songs] rather than pursue the full judgment against her. To that end, it now says that it's willing to accept a reduced financial penalty in exchange for her participation in an anti-piracy campaign.

"We continue to try to resolve this case in a reasonable way. In the past, for example, we have reached out to Ms. Thomas to settle the case in exchange for a contribution to a local music charity," RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said. "We have communicated to Ms. Thomas that we would consider a variety of non-monetary settlement options, which is up to her to offer. We think this is a gesture of a good will and we're doing what we can to resolve this case in a manner that works for everyone."

Thomas-Rasset's lawyer, Michael Wilson, said the RIAA has offered her the opportunity to pay a reduced fine in exchange for making a public statement on the matter, although it hadn't been specific about what it had in mind. "It was kind of a general idea, nothing concrete," Wilson said. "I would assume it would be something along those lines: anti-piracy and culpability."

Regardless of the terms of the deal, Thomas-Rasset isn't interested in playing nice. "I'm not doing it," she said; her lawyer is instead looking into the possibility of filing for bankruptcy protection in order to avoid paying the fine.

Source: Wired [http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/07/riaa-asks-infamous-file-sharer/]


Permalink

 

[Baby Tea]

I think we should get people together to raise the money to pay this fine.
But not pay it in a check or wired deposit. No.

Pay it in truckloads of coins. Pennies. Nickles. Dimes. Massive amounts of coins. Just dump it on their front-lawn.
Stinkin' RIAA.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

I think we should get people together to raise the money to pay this fine.
But not pay it in a check or wired deposit. No.

Pay it in truckloads of coins. Pennies. Nickles. Dimes. Massive amounts of coins. Just dump it on their front-lawn.
Stinkin' RIAA.

Interesting idea

Kickstarter or IndieGoGo?

 

[lacktheknack]

I think we should get people together to raise the money to pay this fine.
But not pay it in a check or wired deposit. No.

Pay it in truckloads of coins. Pennies. Nickles. Dimes. Massive amounts of coins. Just dump it on their front-lawn.
Stinkin' RIAA.

I approve of this idea.

Even better, put a small box on the top of the mega-pile with two rolls of pennies in it, labelled "this is how much the song cost".

 

[Corven]

Granted $222,000 is a stupid amount of money to fine someone over 24 songs that may or may not have been downloaded thousands of times, we all know it was a scare tactic to dissuade anyone else from pirating music (Which didn't work) But she's still a pirate, her trying to weasel out of any type of repayment shouldn't be supported.

 

[Dr.Awkward]

Psh. Put each coin inside a fold of duct tape, then leave a message saying "This is how you treat us when we legitimately buy something!" The sit and watch as they get frustrated having to open each little duct tape pack only to find a penny or nickel in there. Maybe they'll change their tune once they realize you can't "maximize profits" when you limit, confuse and frustrate your consumers, and violate their rights.

 

[synobal]

Come shill for us or we will continue to ruin your life. I love just how much power corporations have in the modern world.

 

[cidbahamut]

I think we should get people together to raise the money to pay this fine.
But not pay it in a check or wired deposit. No.

Pay it in truckloads of coins. Pennies. Nickles. Dimes. Massive amounts of coins. Just dump it on their front-lawn.
Stinkin' RIAA.

Where do I sign up to contribute to this asshattery?

 

[Bradmaster Flash]

I think a quote by the wonderful Gaben is valid here:

Spoiler

"We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem," he said. "If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate's service is more valuable."

The RIAA needs to realise this. Draconian scare tactics are not going to lower piracy. Better service will always prevail.

 

[Scribblesense]

If that reduced fine is anymore than $24 USD, it's a goddamn ripoff.

They're currently asking about $10k per song - my iPod, with over 5,000 legitimately purchased songs, would be worth over $50 million, or about 200 times what my house is worth, or 2,000 times what my car is worth, or what I would earn at minimum wage and 40 hours a week for three millenia.

They claim that from 2004 to 2009 over 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded, or about 300 trillion dollars worth of music.

They claim that $10-12 billion are lost every year in the US economy to music piracy, meaning every man, woman, and child in the United States steals about $40 worth of music every year.

I realize I'm being overly simplistic here, but the numbers are obviously ridiculous. Studies have shown that people spend the same amount on entertainment regardless of their downloading habits, and so the RIAA's revenues aren't going to magically skyrocket the moment online piracy is eliminated. Following that, any financial problems the RIAA is facing, and they claim they cannot survive on the billions of dollars they earn every year, is entirely their own fault and not the fault of people like Thomas-Rasset who somehow cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage by uploading two dozen songs.

 

[Machine Man 1992]

Hmm, Massive amount of money, or selling out everything you stand for?

You guys want check or cash?

 

[Doom972]

I think we should get people together to raise the money to pay this fine.
But not pay it in a check or wired deposit. No.

Pay it in truckloads of coins. Pennies. Nickles. Dimes. Massive amounts of coins. Just dump it on their front-lawn.
Stinkin' RIAA.

It's not like she'll go to jail or be homeless. Bankruptcy is exactly for cases like this one. I know it her sentence isn't unjust, but her situation isn't as hard as some unfortunate people like that LoL player who went to jail for five months for a "terror threat" on Facebook.

 

[Machine Man 1992]

Come shill for us or we will continue to ruin your life. I love just how much power corporations have in the modern world.

You all laughed at the dystopian corportocracy in Syndicate. You said it can never happen.

You're wrong. YOU ARE ALL WRONG!

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

But she's still a pirate, her trying to weasel out of any type of repayment shouldn't be supported.

The only reason I disagree is because the ruling levied against her is criminal. Based on the nature of the crime (which is how the legal system supposedly used to work), the fine is grossly disproportionate to any logically arguable loses sustained by the RIAA.

If you ask me, for the fine to cost any more than a parking ticket says volumes about this case & civil courts in general

 

[TK421]

Granted $222,000 is a stupid amount of money to fine someone over 24 songs that may or may not have been downloaded thousands of times, we all know it was a scare tactic to dissuade anyone else from pirating music (Which didn't work) But she's still a pirate, her trying to weasel out of any type of repayment shouldn't be supported.

I disagree. When huge organizations/companies/whathaveyou like the RIAA can get away with horseshit like that, and then have the gall to ask her to join up with them, something is freakin wrong. I hope that she never pays the money, just for the principle of the thing.

 

[shirkbot]

For fuck sake, lady take the deal. This way you don't have to pay the fine.

Some things are more important than money. Standing up against a stilted system is one of them. The RIAA is trying to bully this woman, the amount they have demanded is absurd, and they are just one of the organizations doing that. Go Ms. Thomas.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

I think we should get people together to raise the money to pay this fine.
But not pay it in a check or wired deposit. No.

Pay it in truckloads of coins. Pennies. Nickles. Dimes. Massive amounts of coins. Just dump it on their front-lawn.
Stinkin' RIAA.

It's not like she'll go to jail or be homeless. Bankruptcy is exactly for cases like this one. I know it her sentence isn't unjust, but her situation isn't as hard as some unfortunate people like that LoL player who went to jail for five months for a "terror threat" on Facebook.

Interesting. I guess that explains why she couldn't give less of fuck about paying the fine or any non-monetary payment options. I think I would have done the same thing. Fuck the RIAA, I wouldn't do an anti-piracy thing for them if they paid me

 

[SteewpidZombie]

It'd be EASIER and more fair to simply get a court order that forces the person to simply pay the amount that they "Stole" in content (So like $1 for each song or whatever the price was at the time). Plus it wouldn't make the RIAA look like the stupid fucking morons that they are, and instead make them appear like a legitimate and sensible group.