We are a generation born from the digital revolution. As college students, we have had almost every piece of information available to us through the click of a mouse on the Internet. And we find every loophole possible to avoid paying for that content.
Have a question? Google it. Need some basic information? Try Wikipedia. Missed your favorite TV show? Watch it online.
And what about your musical needs? A large chunk of America says download it. For free.
Is this legal? No. Is it convenient? Yes. The majority of people I know have some kind of file sharing software to download music, movies and just about everything else.
Many look to this technology and convenience with little thought of the consequence. They approach it with an “everybody’s doing it” mentality.
The recent news of Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a woman charged with copyright infringement for downloading and sharing 24 copyrighted music files on Kazaa, a popular peer-to-peer file sharing network, might make the public think twice about illegally downloading files.
Last month, Thomas-Rasset was found guilty by a jury in a retrial, held in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota. Her fine came out to $80,000 per song, equaling about to $1.92 million.
Let me reiterate: She was charged with downloading and sharing 24 songs. Twenty-four. Take a look at your own illegally downloaded music lists, and see if your numbers beat hers.
Some of the songs she was charged with illegally downloading are: “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard, “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, “Cryin’” by Aerosmith and “Bills, Bills, Bills” by Destiny’s Child.
Not to make jokes about this woman’s misfortune in the Minnesota Court system, but I have to say it: Yes, she probably is “cryin’” over all of her “bills, bills, bills” these days. Corny overload? Maybe. True? I would think so.
This week, Thomas-Rasset filed a motion for one of three options: a retrial with evidence she asserts should be inadmissible to be suppressed, a reduction of damages to the statutory minimum, which would be $750 for each song, equaling $18,000 in total, or a removal of statutory damages altogether.
Let the battle begin. Again.
I won’t directly comment on the issue of illegal file sharing, although I will say that I think Thomas-Rasset’s fine is absurd and the RIAA should settle or reduce the fine to match the crime.
There already isn’t much love for the RIAA out there, especially in the digital world. They could use some brownie points right about now. Using Thomas-Rasset as an example may strike fear into the hearts of illegal downloaders everywhere, but it could also backfire on them, creating a whole new war on sharing copyrighted files for free.
Have I ever illegally downloaded anything? I take the Fifth. Lately though, especially while using ASU’s Internet, I have turned to watching streaming videos on various Web sites and listening to Pandora while surfing the Internet. I don’t have a spare $1.92 million lying around.
E-mail Shanen at
shanen.lloyd@asu.edu
