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2-0-Sixx

2-0-Sixx

Sicc OG
#1
May 13, 2002
49,944
47,801
113
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Seattle
www.socialistworld.net
#1
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/32731.html



The RIAA sees the face of evil, and it's a 12-year-old girl



By Ashlee Vance in Chicago
Posted: 09/09/2003 at 13:54 GMT


The RIAA has nailed one of the most prolific file-traders in the U.S., filing a lawsuit against 12-year-old Brianna LaHara.

When not at the playground with her friends, "Biggie Brianna" is trading music files from her home in New York. The little girl received one of the 261 lawsuits filed by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) on Monday, according to the New York Post. She may look like a sweet and innocent child, but the RIAA says it's only going after major copyright violators at the moment. So you make the call.

"I got really scared. My stomach is all turning," Brianna told the Post. "I thought it was OK to download music because my mom paid a service fee for it. Out of all people, why did they pick me?"

It turns out that Brianna's mum paid a $29.99 service charge to KaZaA for the company's music service. Brianna, however, thought this meant she could download songs at will. How naive!

When reporters charged into Brianna's home, she was helping her brother with some homework. She is an honors student at St. Gregory the Great school.

Brianna could face charges of up to $150,000 per infringed song, but we have a feeling this might be a tad unrealistic. We suggest the RIAA take all of her toys instead.

"Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation," RIAA president Cary Sherman said in a statement. "But when your product is being regularly stolen, there comes a time when you have to take appropriate action."
 
J

jesse james

Sicc OG
#2
Aug 26, 2002
4,315
3
0
#2
who were the RIAA to know it was a 12 yr old on the other side of the computer.................................that should teach some of yall not to steal.....cause that is what they are doing
 
Gizmo

Gizmo

Sicc OG
#7
Nov 8, 2002
1,693
31
48
47
#7
she had to pay $2000 dollars. And she lives in subsidized housing. This one will come back and bite the RIAA in the ass.
 
S

SOLO

Sicc OG
#10
May 23, 2002
431
0
16
#10
2-0-Sixx said:
How do you know she had to pay 2 g's, is there an update article?
Click to expand...
She (the 12 year old girl) is the first to settle with the RIAA. She has a single mom and used the software to download childrens' songs.

Great job, RIAA. My heroes. Way to fight those evil "pirates." :dead:


From the Los Angeles Times' website, 9/10/03:
-----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-girl10sep10,1,2160260.story?coll=la-home-todays-times _

N.Y. Girl Settles RIAA Case
By Alex Pham
Times Staff Writer

September 10, 2003
Consider it a schoolgirl crushed.

Twelve-year-old Brianna Lahara was one of the 261 people sued Monday by the record industry for allegedly pirating songs over the Internet.

The seventh-grade honor student was also the first to settle with the record labels, which agreed Tuesday to drop their case against her in exchange for $2,000 and an apology.

"I am sorry for what I have done," Lahara said in a statement issued by the Recording Industry Assn. of America, which represents the labels. "I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love."

Lahara's predicament landed on the front pages of New York's two leading tabloids Tuesday and lured an encampment of reporters to the Manhattan apartment where she lives with her mother and 9-year-old brother.

When she learned she was being sued for downloading songs such as "If You're Happy and You Know It" and the theme to the television show "Family Matters," she told the New York Daily News that her "stomach is all in knots."

She may feel better now that she dodged a bullet that could have cost her family far more, given that the penalty could have reached $150,000 for each of the 1,000 songs she had on her computer.

But Brianna probably isn't the only one who is relieved.

"The RIAA definitely wanted to get her out of the headlines," said Phil Leigh, an analyst with Inside Digital Media, a market research firm in Tampa, Fla. "They don't want to be seen picking on children. She's not even a teenager."

The RIAA declined to comment on Brianna's case, but President Mitch Bainwol said the goal of the lawsuits was "to send a strong message that ... illegal distribution of copyrighted music has consequences."

Analysts say the industry's tactics may backfire if more defendants like Lahara emerge.

"If you go after too many 12-year-old girls, you can alienate a lot of people," said Mike McGuire, an analyst with GartnerG2 in San Jose.

The $2,000 settlement would mean more than a few months' allowance for most 12-year-olds. It also could be a strain on Brianna's single mother, Sylvia Torres, who, according to New York news reports, is a director of a nursing agency who lives in public housing.

"For a single parent living in the projects, that's a lot of money," Leigh said.

But for a top record executive, "What's $2,000?" he said. "A suit of clothes? A couple days' vacation? A fancy dinner?"
 
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