Music Pirate (12-year-old girl sued for downloading music)

NY Post ^ | September 9, 2003 -- | Lorena Mongelli

[dead]

The music industry has turned its big legal guns on Internet music-swappers - including a 12-year-old Upper West Side girl who thought downloading songs was fun.

Brianna LaHara said she was frightened to learn she was among the hundreds of people sued yesterday by giant music companies in federal courts around the country.

[Roughneck]

As soon as I knew there were legal implications I told my kids not to do it anymore, period

That is the proper response. Folks like yourself can take part in the "amnesty" being given.

Perhaps this gals parents knew it was illegal - or soon could be - but , hey! what the heck, who'll know. . .

[Steve_Seattle]

" . . . so why is this so shocking?"

Upon further reflection, I'll answer my own question: the media is emphasizing this girl to make the music industry look bad. I'm surprised how many people in FR are taking the view that the theft of proprietary material is ok.

[mhking]

F*ck the RIAA.

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[ampat]

That's part of the socialist philiosophy: "Children's rights over parental control" (also a plank in the communist philosophy). So I hope there aren't any dems out there complaining about the lawsuit.

[Pippin]

WHAT!!!!!!

Now I've heard it all!

since when did we start suing children?

[chuknospam]

And where is the Catholic church in all this? The Church must be promoting this kind of behavior among the youth, it simply can't be the fault of the parent, there must be more to this story. I'd like to know how many of those being sued are Catholic and I want to know where the Vatican stands and what they plan to do about this nest of thieves within the Church. /sarcasm

[stainlessbanner]

This is ridiculous. RIAA is strangling itself.

[pepsionice]

I think a lot of kids are going to start recording their own songs in the garage...and pump them out to the public. This will cause alot of problems for the industry to figure out what is licensed or protected....and what is simply your own act. Looking around the US...I bet that there are 20,000 musical groups who have no record contracts...and need public exposure. Someone ought to start a site to get people to down load the unknown group songs.

[PaxMacian]

"if you downloaded thousands of songs, it would be much cheaper to settle with them"

Not necessarily, if you buy them in vinyl, or tape form if it is old music or better yet, if you went to half.com many cds are only a dollar. Selling of USED cds can never be made illegal, no matter how they are used. This is the true secret harbor of music pirates.

[cyborg]

I think price gouging customers is a crime as well... Why is this fight being fought by hasbeen artists anyway? Hmm....

[Steve_Seattle]

I'm wondering if there are any implications in this for the used-book industry? It seems to me there is a difference between selling a used book and music downloading, but I'm not sure if I can explain it. If I sell my copy of "Treason" to Half-Price Books for a dollar, and they re-sell it for five dollars, is that different from downloading music from the Internet? In both cases, the publisher/music company does not benefit from the sale of their material to a secondary buyer. But I have never seen this issue raised with regard to used books.

[SamAdams76]

What I really have a problem with is people who read NY Post articles without buying the paper. Damn cheapskates! Get your own damn paper.

[Steve_Seattle]

"price gouging"

I can't comment on where the money from the sale of a CD goes, because I don't know how it's divvied up. But the cost of a CD compares very favorably with the cost of a movie or sports ticket - VERY favorably. The movie/sports event is over in a couple of hours, but the CD can be repeatedly listened to for many years.

[mhking]

since when did we start suing children?

When the RIAA stopped caring about winning friends; they only want to influence people. In their minds, no one is off limits to their protection racket.

They are trying to put the genie back in the bottle. Heh. Good luck.

As opposed to creating a new compensation/renumeration model to fit the new technology, they want to shoe-horn the technology into the old model.

Apple, with their new method, has created a new paradigm that, if adopted by the RIAA, might stem the flow, and certainly reduce the sense of betrayal felt by both artists and consumers.

Unless they can create a new method to sell content by the song, based on the new technology, I'm certain that they will cease to exist within five years.

I'm no fan of the RIAA - I don't suffer bullies very well. I do download music, primarily older and more obscure content that is not available in the US or to American consumers. Not only that, I share older jazz with my dad, who has boxes upon boxes of '78s that are not available anywhere any more.

If THAT makes me a criminal, so be it. But I would dare say that any attempt to force me to pay for something that is not currently available would be problematic at best.

And if they think that this kind of bullying will force me to buy more music, they are sorely mistaken.

[Steve_Seattle]

Part of the problem is that most CDs have only two or three good songs out of the ten or twelve on the CD, so people don't want to buy the CD just to get a song or two. That's where much of the motivation for downloading comes from. And I've noticed that even "best of" CD's for particular artists always seem to leave out at least one song that is indispensable.

[Jack Wilson]

I'm surprised how many people in FR are taking the view that the theft of proprietary material is ok.

I'm with you. I'm disappointed.

[cyborg]

I cannot tell a lie. I used Kazaa to download music I can't find because it's not 'in circulation', or because I know the CD stinks. I still buy CDs but almost exclusively movie soundtracks. I will buy a CD if I can hear it first which is why I've noticed 'listening stations' cropping up everywhere.

You make a good point about the value over say a movie ticket. That's why I buy DVDs on sale. Have you seen the price of movie tix lately?

[Steve_Seattle]

"Since when did we start suing children?"

The article makes it clear the RIAA had no personal information regarding the people named in the lawsuit. But by emphasizing the age of this girl, the media has succeeded in changing the subject. Very effective media spin.

[Pippin]

Amen to that! <p. My Brother and brother-in-law have downloaded music from the internet before but I dare anybody to call them criminals for it. If the music industry didn't want people to download music at no cost than why did they take so long to say so?

[cyborg]

Why is it that Apple's I-pod is selling so many songs? I think people do not like getting ripped off. I noticed record stores not selling singles anymore :-(. Before you could buy three CD's for six to ten dollars. You have a point.