Exploring the balance between illegally downloading music and the artist right to sell music.
Rory Sullivan
– Staff Writer –
Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a Minnesota woman, stands as the first person in the United States to go to trial for illegally downloading music.
Thomas-Rasset is still in court fighting the 2009 verdict from which she was fined $80,000 per song.
While she only downloaded 24 songs, it’s enough to bring the total to almost $2 million.
The illegal downloading of music has long been a problem for record companies and artists.
Since so many people participate in file sharing, finding these people and stopping them has been a big issue.
It’s completely understandable that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is trying to stop people from illegally downloading music.
Music is, after all, a product and therefore must be paid for. Finding a loophole around paying is against the law, and people who steal music should definitely be fined.
However, assigning such a large punishment for such a small crime is just ridiculous.
The punishment should fit the crime, and a fine of $2 million just doesn’t fit. Songs on iTunes cost a measly 99 cents, making the cost of 24 songs just under $24.
If a person got caught walking out of a record store with $24 worth of music, they would probably just get a slap on the wrist and be forced to return the goods.
The RIAA is obviously just trying to make an example of poor Mrs. Thomas-Rasset.
Why did they decide to make a stand against a woman like Jammie Thomas-Rasset?
She is a married mother of four who is certainly not the kind of person capable of paying off millions of dollars in fines.
When the owners of the torrent tracking site http://thepiratebay.org were sued, the fines added up to about $3.8 million. So to straighten things out.
The huge website that is responsible for making copyrighted music, movies and games available to more than 4 million users is being fined $3.8 million while a helpless mother of four is being fined $2 million? What?
Granted, the owners of The Pirate Bay were also sentenced to one year in prison, but still.
There are plenty of people out there who have downloaded thousands or even tens of thousands of songs, and instead of going after them, the RIAA goes after this poor woman.
So far it doesn’t look like taking her to court has set an example either. Word about this case has been getting around and people are still downloading music, so what is the point?
This is America. We are supposed to be the greatest country in the world.
We should be able to find people who are breaking the law and give them a fair trial and a fair punishment.
Thomas-Rasset has already spent three years in court and if she is eventually found guilty she will be fined an exorbitant amount that she doesn’t have the means to pay.
It seems that if the RIAA wants to stop the illegal downloading of music, they should come down hard on the people who make it possible rather than harm the individuals who are minor offenders.
