[Macworld]

Post your comments for Music pirate mom deserves a new trial here

[rab777hp]

She deserves the fine, she stole, she pirated, she knowingly broke the law and cheated people out of money. Now she pays for it

[tfrogh]

The punishment does not fit the crime. I don't see the point in wasting time on another trial. Simply reset the damages to something reasonable.

[brian577]

To think for less than $30 she could of avoided all this madness.

[mrbach]

She didn't steal anything. People need to understand what copyright means.
You can't steal something if you have a copy of it only.
Even when you buy the CD, the license says you don't own it.
To steal, would mean imply a change of ownership (legal or otherwise), and in the case of copyrighted works, the property is not physical.

The fine was stupid, the law is stupid. Unfortunately for her, it was interpreted and judged by stupid people.

[rab777hp]

Since you love the word stupid so much I'm sure you can think of an adjective to describe yourself.
Ever heard of intellectual property ?
Sounds like not.
Instead of buying music and giving artists the royalties they deserve, she broke the law. If you love the artists so much then you should actually SUPPORT them.

If I went to a website and downloaded the movie Pirates of the Caribbean for free- is that legal?

[alansky]

rab777hp said:

She deserves the fine, she stole, she pirated, she knowingly broke the law and cheated people out of money. Now she pays for it

Are you serious? Scary!

[rab777hp]

Scary?

If you are so scared then WHY DIDN'T YOU PAY THE GODDAMN $30 BUCKS IN THE FIRST PLACE??????

give me one good reason why piracy should be legal

[leftnotracks]

rab777hp said:

Scary?

If you are so scared then WHY DIDN'T YOU PAY THE GODDAMN $30 BUCKS IN THE FIRST PLACE??????

give me one good reason why piracy should be legal

What the hell are you talking about? Nobody claimed to be scared. Nobody has advocated legalizing piracy. There is only one idiot here.

[arcadeos]

I would suggest that piracy is in fact stealing, and should be treated in the same way as traditional theft.
24 songs = about $24 = petty theft = community service and a small fine

[m_flo]

I don't think anyone here said piracy should be legal... The punishment, though, should fit the crime, and in this case it absolutely DOES NOT. Almost TWO MILLION DOLLARS for downloading 24 songs? That is INSANE! Any reasonable, rational person would agree. There are really no measurable damages imposed on the plaintiff(s) for the defendent's act.

This is just the RIAA trying to make an example out of someone for file sharing, and UNJUSTLY ruining the lives of a family in the process. It's with these kinds of acts that the RIAA is building resentment and will ultimately backfire on them as more and more people choose to freely download their music as an act of protest to the RIAA's bullying of otherwise good people.

Nobody is dying because Mrs. Thomas downloaded 24 songs, but she and her family could face generations of hardship if this unjust ruling is upheld.
Message was edited by: m_flo (because Macworld's Rich Text editor is TERRIBLE)

[Galloway]

You are an idiot. If the fine is to be based on the actual damages, then what are the actual damages? They are the revenue that was lost. Which amounts to $23.76, a far cry from $1.92 million.

If you went into a record store and stole 24 songs worth of CD's, which is 2-3 CD's, you would hardly be fined $1.92 million dollars for the crime.

Grow a brain. And if anyone has an extra few lying around, send them to the jury members who awarded this completely ridiculous fine.

[RobK]

She already got her "new trial." This was it. Maybe she should quit while she's ahead.

[JDW]

rab777hp said:

PAY THE GODDAMN $30 BUCKS

Your use of vain/profane words is reason alone that everyone should ignore you. It's absolutely frightful how hateful some people can be, and truly, such a cold-hearted nature would appear to be present in some jurists as well. Anyone, yes even a jurist in the US of A, in their right mind should know full well that nearly $2 million for "most crimes" probably does not fit the crime. Americans have slowly been brainwashed to thing that number is proper, which is why juries continue to award such.

It's not about right or wrong or whether this woman "stole" or not. It's not about something as ridiculous as "legalizing piracy." It's about bringing sanity to the US judicial system.

Here in Japan (I am an American who has lived here nearly 15 years, by the way), there are no such outrageous "financial rewards" granted. That's not to say Japan's system is "perfect or ideal." It simply is a fact that Japan more often than not exercises "common sense" in the monetary rewards it grants via its court system, and event outside the court.

I was in a car accident here in Japan in 2006. I nearly died. My entire family was in the car. My 2-year-old broke his thigh, even though he was in a child seat, restrained. My daughter suffered a broken wrist and serious mental trauma as she has a near photographic memory. My wife, the driver was very beat up, and I was a mess. We were hit broadside by an individual who didn't even slow down at his stop sign. This man's insurance company said they would pay for our car, medical expenses and damages of $10,000 total, for our entire family. Not feeling that was "completely proportionate to the damage done," we sought help from a court mediator (I having done so, mainly because I am not sue-happy like most back in my home country). In the end, we were rewarded $22,000 over the $10,000 originally offered. Had it gone to court and had we won the case, we might have received up to $90,000 but since no one died in this case, it would not have been more than that. I discovered this after speaking to many, many lawyers here (yes, all Japanese speakers, native to Japan).

So while I may have felt at the time that my family "deserved much more," we were in fact rewarded only slightly more (relative to what you folks there in the US are often granted). But on the whole, the sum we received was better than nothing. I've learned there is a point at which we need to be thankful for what we have been blessed with. Although I still suffer pain from that accident, we were blessed with our lives and we were blessed with a slightly higher sum for damages. I really would have been wrong for asking more than that.

And so, when I read about "millions of dollars in damages" awarded in cases in the US, I just shake my head because it is clear evidence that the American "justice" system is quite unjust, and very broken. Sadly, it is the American people who keep it that way, as evidenced by angry and bitter forum posters who cry out "she got what she deserved." How awful people can be to each other at times.