RIAA sues single mother $222,000

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simonjedi

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DULUTH, Minnesota -- Jammie Thomas, a single mother of two, was found liable Thursday for copyright infringement in the nation's first file-sharing case to go before a jury.

Twelve jurors here said the Minnesota woman must pay $9,250 for each of 24 shared songs that were the subject of the lawsuit, amounting to $222,000 in penalties.

They could have dinged her for up to $3.6 million in damages, or awarded as little as $18,000. She was found liable for infringing songs from bands such as Journey, Green Day, Aerosmith and others.

After the verdict was read, Thomas and her attorney left the courthouse without comment. The jurors also declined to talk to reporters.

The verdict, coming after two days of testimony and about five hours of deliberations, was a mixed victory for the RIAA, which has brought more than 20,000 lawsuits in the last four years as part of its zero-tolerance policy against pirating. The outcome is likely to embolden the RIAA, which began targeting individuals in lawsuits after concluding the legal system could not keep pace with the ever growing number of file-sharing sites and services.

"This is what can happen if you don't settle," RIAA attorney Richard Gabriel told reporters outside the courthouse. "I think we have sent a message we are willing to go to trial."

Still, it's unlikely the RIAA's courtroom victory will translate into a financial windfall or stop piracy, which the industry claims costs it billions in lost sales. Despite the thousands of lawsuits -- the majority of them settling while others have been dismissed or are pending -- the RIAA's litigation war on internet piracy has neither dented illegal, peer-to-peer file sharing or put much fear in the hearts of music swappers.

According to BigChampagne, an online measuring service, the number of peer-to-peer users unlawfully trading goods has nearly tripled since 2003, when the RIAA began legal onslaught targeting individuals.

At the time, BigChampagne says, there were about 3.8 million file sharers trading over the internet at a given moment. Now, the group has measured a record 9 million users trading at the same time. Roughly 70 percent of trading involves digital music, according to BigChampagne.

The case, however, did set legal precedents favoring the industry.

In proving liability, the industry did not have to demonstrate that the defendant's computer had a file-sharing program installed at the time that they inspected her hard drive. And the RIAA did not have to show that the defendant was at the keyboard when RIAA investigators accessed Thomas' share folder.

Also, the judge in the case ruled that jurors may find copyright infringement liability against somebody solely for sharing files on the internet. The RIAA did not have to prove that others downloaded the files. That was a big bone of contention that U.S. District Judge Michael Davis settled in favor of the industry.

Thomas, 30, maintained that she was not the Kazaa user "Tereastarr," whose files were detected by RIAA's investigators. Her attorney speculated to jurors that she could have been the victim of a spoof, cracker, zombie, drone and other attacks.

The jury found her liable after receiving evidence her internet protocol address and cable modem identifier were used to share some 1,700 files. The hard drive linked to Kazaa on Feb. 21, 2005 -- the evening in question -- did not become evidence in the case.

According to testimony, Thomas replaced her hard drive weeks after RIAA investigators accessed her share file and discovered 1,702 files. The industry sued on just 24 of those files.
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http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/riaa-jury-finds.html
 
Not so mad at the RIAA as I am with the jury.
If I was in the jury, I'd have acquitted her on the spot.
 
Something needs to be done to stop these RIAA tactics.
 
Everyone who works for the RIAA is going to suffer in hell. I'll even believe in hell just so I can have the satisfaction of imagining them burning for all eternity.


They're like the Jack Thompson of music, only slight effective.
 
This woman should set up some kind of fund for herself, so that people can paypal money to her in order to cover her compensation and damages. I'm sure there are enough people on the net with sympathy for her and hatred for the case against her that she might even end up with a net profit at the end of it.

As for the trial - agreed@whoever made the comment about the jury. Piss on that jury, and piss on that judge. 'The industry did not have to demonstrate that the defendant's computer had a file-sharing program installed at the time that they inspected her hard drive'? 'The RIAA did not have to prove that others downloaded the files'?? Cases like this can never be followed through without a very pliable judge and a jury full of morons. GOD I hate anti-filesharing attitudes... Anyone who has the least bit of sympathy for the RIAA in this is mentally ill.
 
So RIAA is randomly suing people? Some people download thousands of songs and get away with it, but some woman that shared 24 songs has to pay 222k$? WTF!?
 
Laivasse said:
This woman should set up some kind of fund for herself, so that people can paypal money to her in order to cover her compensation and damages. I'm sure there are enough people on the net with sympathy for her and hatred for the case against her that she might even end up with a net profit at the end of it.

As for the trial - agreed@whoever made the comment about the jury. Piss on that jury, and piss on that judge. 'The industry did not have to demonstrate that the defendant's computer had a file-sharing program installed at the time that they inspected her hard drive'? 'The RIAA did not have to prove that others downloaded the files'?? Cases like this can never be followed through without a very pliable judge and a jury full of morons. GOD I hate anti-filesharing attitudes... Anyone who has the least bit of sympathy for the RIAA in this is mentally ill.
Click to expand...


How awesome would it be if we had a million+ person committed group across the country for opposition to the RIAA. Whenever something like this happens and jurors are ****ing insane, everybody within the group attempts to donate 50 cents to a dollar to the cause, and pay off the insanely huge legal bills to show the RIAA we won't be ****ed with.

I mean, there has to be at least 500 thousand to a million RIAA haters out there who would be willing to give change they find under their sofa once in a blue moon.


If I had the resources and the credibility, I'd actually start a group like this. Full fledged professional website and everything.

It'd be called Victims of the RIAA. A charitable organization.
 
How do they decide who's going to get nuked out of all those people :|
 
DEATHMASTER said:
How do they decide who's going to get nuked out of all those people :|
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Well, if such an organization was formed... the donation database membership would be kept confidential. The organization members itself would abstain from piracy or any further actions of piracy in order to prevent the organization from coming under scrutiny/investigation/scandal.
 
Where did they find a jury of 12 that would convict a single mother of illegal mp3 downloading? they were bribed.
 
Raziaar said:
Well, if such an organization was formed... the donation database membership would be kept confidential. The organization members itself would abstain from piracy or any further actions of piracy in order to prevent the organization from coming under scrutiny/investigation/scandal.
Click to expand...

I think he was asking how the RIAA decides who's life to destroy out of the millions they could pick.
 
Let's find out who that jury was and make their lives living hell.
 
See, now this makes me angry. We got people killing each other for crack, and doing much more serious things and we got a single mom of 2, sued for her childrens petty actions? She has to pay that much too like she destroyed a huge expensive thing or something? :flame: *Nice songs though, Journey and Aerosmith among others. :D Just use youtube though.
 
jammie_thomas_2.jpg


That's her by the way.

When asked if she was going to buy any new music, she said "I don't have any money for that."

The Native American woman works as an administrator at a local tribe and said she would worry about the financial implications of paying the judgment "when I cross that bridge."
Click to expand...
 
[sarcasm]damn those single mothers putting the needs of their family ahead of digital media its just down right dispickable .[/sarcasm]
 
Raziaar said:
How awesome would it be if we had a million+ person committed group across the country for opposition to the RIAA. Whenever something like this happens and jurors are ****ing insane, everybody within the group attempts to donate 50 cents to a dollar to the cause, and pay off the insanely huge legal bills to show the RIAA we won't be ****ed with.

I mean, there has to be at least 500 thousand to a million RIAA haters out there who would be willing to give change they find under their sofa once in a blue moon.


If I had the resources and the credibility, I'd actually start a group like this. Full fledged professional website and everything.

It'd be called Victims of the RIAA. A charitable organization.
Click to expand...
Says RAZIAAR.
 
It's time for a lynchin', boys!
 
Illegal file sharing should be punished, HOWEVER the punishment needs to match the crime. Would you get a fine that big if you stole a couple CDs from a store?



Laivasse said:
This woman should set up some kind of fund for herself, so that people can paypal money to her in order to cover her compensation and damages. I'm sure there are enough people on the net with sympathy for her and hatred for the case against her that she might even end up with a net profit at the end of it.
Click to expand...

Bad idea, because she's better off filing bankruptcy & donations would go to waste.
 
phantomdesign said:
Illegal file sharing should be punished, HOWEVER the punishment needs to match the crime. Would you get a fine that big if you stole a couple CDs from a store?
Click to expand...
Medieval retard (AKA RIAA): "Off with her hand!"
 
That donations idea is a damn good one. She should use her moment of 'fame', while she will probably be interviewed by the press etc. and advertise her fund that way (start a website etc.; I'm sure she'd have many people willing to help with that).
 
Ooooh **** /hurrys to burn hard drives

NOT
 
Ridiculous. :/
 
Intellectual property has an inordinately high value. I think the laws regarding its actual value need to be lessened many fold.
 
Well, I guess justice is merciless. I'd have given her just a slight slap on the wrist though.
 
Also, I don't think most of that money goes to the artists themselves. Probably into another bonus for the RIAA brigadiers.
 
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