Student fined $675,000 for illegal downloads

[alan1]

Not a single one of the 50,000+ songs were illegally downloaded off the internet.

Imagine if you HAD illegally downloaded them!

At the maximum fine of $150,000 per track, you'd owe $7,724,850,000.

I could afford that kind of deficit if I was a state.

 

[alan1]

This will do wonders in PR for those companies.

Next thing you know, they will want to sue people for listening to music on youtube.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

No, if you download a song illegally it's stealing. Just because it's digital vs. on a cd doesn't make it not stealing.

If songs are intellectual property and you don't believe in intellectual property . . . you don't believe in songs or music?

I can go onto YouTube right now and listen to pretty much any song I want to. Am I stealing that song?

I meant that songs would be classified under intellectual property and that I don't believe in intellectual property.

Listening to it? No. Downloading it without paying for it? Yes.

Listening to it in the store? No. Taking the cd without paying for it? Yes.

Stores don't generally let you listen to full tracks, usually somewhere around 30 second clips. YouTube lets you listen to full songs so I wouldn't even need to download a song or buy the album. I could just go to YouTube and listen to any full song I want anytime I want.

 

[alan1]

I think they set the fine so high to hold him up as an example that if you get caught, they'll slam you. Maybe because it's so much harder to catch illegal downloaders? I don't know. That was my impression when I read the article.

If they actually fined him a legitimate amount (not some ridiculously high amount that will just result in him declaring bankruptcy), they might actually put some fear into people. Sue/fine him $100 per song plus court costs.

Maybe. Guess they didn't see it that way. I did read that if they stick to the $675,000 he will declare bankruptcy.

Cripes, isn't easier to just pay for what you buy?

DOHH! That's the point, he didn't buy it. He stole it. If he had bought it, he'd have paid for it.

Sorry, I couldn't resist walking through that door. I know what you meant, but you gotta poke fun when you can.

 

[alan1]

I can go onto YouTube right now and listen to pretty much any song I want to. Am I stealing that song?

I meant that songs would be classified under intellectual property and that I don't believe in intellectual property.

Listening to it? No. Downloading it without paying for it? Yes.

Listening to it in the store? No. Taking the cd without paying for it? Yes.

Stores don't generally let you listen to full tracks, usually somewhere around 30 second clips. YouTube lets you listen to full songs so I wouldn't even need to download a song or buy the album. I could just go to YouTube and listen to any full song I want anytime I want.

Can you find the song "I asked for water (she gave me gasoline)" by Howlin' Wolf? I can't find that on youtube.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Listening to it? No. Downloading it without paying for it? Yes.

Listening to it in the store? No. Taking the cd without paying for it? Yes.

Stores don't generally let you listen to full tracks, usually somewhere around 30 second clips. YouTube lets you listen to full songs so I wouldn't even need to download a song or buy the album. I could just go to YouTube and listen to any full song I want anytime I want.

Can you find the song "I asked for water (she gave me gasoline)" by Howlin' Wolf? I can't find that on youtube.

Alright not any song I want. But just about any song I want. Should I be fined $150,000 for every song I listen to on YouTube?

 

[alan1]

Stores don't generally let you listen to full tracks, usually somewhere around 30 second clips. YouTube lets you listen to full songs so I wouldn't even need to download a song or buy the album. I could just go to YouTube and listen to any full song I want anytime I want.

Can you find the song "I asked for water (she gave me gasoline)" by Howlin' Wolf? I can't find that on youtube.

Alright not any song I want. But just about any song I want. Should I be fined $150,000 for every song I listen to on YouTube?

Give it time, you might be.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Can you find the song "I asked for water (she gave me gasoline)" by Howlin' Wolf? I can't find that on youtube.

Alright not any song I want. But just about any song I want. Should I be fined $150,000 for every song I listen to on YouTube?

Give it time, you might be.

Probably. My point is that intellectual property is ridiculous and should be abandoned, especially when it leads to such an excessive punishment as we're seeing in this case. The amount of money this man has to pay is ridiculously disproportionate to his "crime."

 

[rhodescholar]

I don't understand how they could possibly charge $150,000 per downloaded song when you can legally obtain a song for $.99. If anything they should only have to pay the retail price per song and perhaps a small fine. However, I don't believe in intellectual property in the first place so I don't believe there should be any fine at all.

Now I KNOW you are fucking retarded...so when I create a book, song or medicine stopping cancer - I should just give them all away, and work for free?

 

[rhodescholar]

Alright not any song I want. But just about any song I want. Should I be fined $150,000 for every song I listen to on YouTube?

Uhhh, no because if the copyright holder sends a letter to youtube, they MUST remove the song file...

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I don't understand how they could possibly charge $150,000 per downloaded song when you can legally obtain a song for $.99. If anything they should only have to pay the retail price per song and perhaps a small fine. However, I don't believe in intellectual property in the first place so I don't believe there should be any fine at all.

Now I KNOW you are fucking retarded...so when I create a book, song or medicine stopping cancer - I should just give them all away, and work for free?

Who said that? You have every right to sell a book, music, or medicine.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Alright not any song I want. But just about any song I want. Should I be fined $150,000 for every song I listen to on YouTube?

Uhhh, no because if the copyright holder sends a letter to youtube, they MUST remove the song file...

That's true, but in this case it's the person downloading the music that's being punished. He had to download it from somewhere so why aren't they being punished in some way?

 

[rhodescholar]

Who said that? You have every right to sell a book, music, or medicine.

Moron, you just said you DO NOT BELIEVE IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY - how can one sell something that is not legal?

And what would be the point of creating the book, allowing someone to steal it - and having no legal recourse to stopping them? Are you fucking trolling again?

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Who said that? You have every right to sell a book, music, or medicine.

Moron, you just said you DO NOT BELIEVE IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY - how can one sell something that is not legal?

And what would be the point of creating the book, allowing someone to steal it - and having no legal recourse to stopping them? Are you fucking trolling again?

Well I must be trolling, since you obviously don't agree with me.

 

[rhodescholar]

According to your "logic," the store selling the book I steal from should be arrested by the police? WTF?

 

[alan1]

Alright not any song I want. But just about any song I want. Should I be fined $150,000 for every song I listen to on YouTube?

Give it time, you might be.

Probably. My point is that intellectual property is ridiculous and should be abandoned, especially when it leads to such an excessive punishment as we're seeing in this case. The amount of money this man has to pay is ridiculously disproportionate to his "crime."

I agree that the punishment was disproportionate, and I agree it was a crime.

 

[rhodescholar]

Well I must be trolling, since you obviously don't agree with me.

Asshole, I accused you of trolling b/c your comments, beside contradicting themselves, don't even make sense...

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

According to your "logic," the store selling the book I steal from should be arrested by the police? WTF?

A store is legally selling a product that it has bought. Under intellectual property laws this guy obviously downloaded these songs from somewhere that was not legally selling them.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Well I must be trolling, since you obviously don't agree with me.

Asshole, I accused you of trolling b/c your comments, beside contradicting themselves, don't even make sense...

Yet I've noticed you have a habit of calling anything you don't agree with trolling, and since I didn't make any contradictory statements I'm assuming this is why you're referring to my post as trolling.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Give it time, you might be.

Probably. My point is that intellectual property is ridiculous and should be abandoned, especially when it leads to such an excessive punishment as we're seeing in this case. The amount of money this man has to pay is ridiculously disproportionate to his "crime."

I agree that the punishment was disproportionate, and I agree it was a crime.

Then we disagree on this being a crime.