Posted on 04/23/2006 7:55:40 AM PDT by LuxMaker
A Rockmart family is being sued for illegal music file sharing, despite the fact that they don’t even own a computer.
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The RIAA is going to look like a pack of blubbering idiots if they bring this to trial.
Nothing new, I suppose.
Could be identity theft. Hmmmmm.
I'm not advocating filing sharing or theft, but the record industry has been ripping people off for years. You buy a CD and then one song on it is actually worth listening too.
They are getting out of hand with this IMO. It's now a way to make even more than they would have from record sales.
I like Napster. I listen to what I am interested in first, then decide if I want to buy it. You can download it to your computer or pay under a buck for a song if you want to burn it.
A Rockmart [GA] family is being sued for illegal music file sharing, despite the fact that they don’t even own a computer.A federal lawsuit filed this week in Rome by the Recording Industry Association of America alleges that Carma Walls, of 117 Morgan St., Rockmart, has infringed on copyrights for recorded music by sharing files over the Internet. The lawsuit seeks an injunction and requests unspecified monetary damages.
The lawsuit states, “Plaintiffs are informed and believe that Defendant, without the permission or consent of Plaintiffs, has used, and continues to use, an online media distribution system to download the copyrighted recordings, to distribute the copyrighted recordings to the public, and/or to make the copyrighted recordings available for distribution to others.”
This came as shocking news to the Walls family, who were notified of the lawsuit Friday afternoon by a newspaper reporter. James Walls, speaking on behalf of his wife and family, said they have not been served with legal papers and were unaware of the lawsuit.
After being shown a copy of the court filing, Walls said he found the whole thing bewildering.
“I don’t understand this,” Walls said. “How can they sue us when we don’t even have a computer?”
Walls also noted that his family has only resided at their current address “for less than a year.” He wondered if a prior tenant of the home had Internet access, then moved, leaving his family to be targeted instead.
However, the RIAA’s lawsuit maintains that Carma Walls, through the use of a file-sharing program, has infringed on the copyrights for the following songs: “Who Will Save Your Soul,” Jewel; “Far Behind,” Candlebox; “Still the Same,” Bob Seger; “I Won’t Forget You,” Poison; “Open Arms,” Journey; “Unpretty,” TLC; No Scrubs,” TLC; and “Saving All My Love for You,” Whitney Houston.
The lawsuit follows similar wording as in some 3,500 other lawsuits filed by the RIAA in the United States since June 2003.
Typically, the lawsuits have targeted users of Kazaa, Grokster and other peer-to-peer Internet services – most of which have since been shut down by RIAA lawsuits. With these services, users typically have an open folder on the computer that allows other users of the service access to any songs that have been saved in a digital format, such as MP3 files.
The RIAA lawsuits have come under fire, with critics calling the effort a “scare tactic” meant to intimidate the public from file sharing activities.
However, in a public statement defending the litigation, the RIAA says its efforts have been effective in dissuading illegal activity.
“The industry’s anti-piracy efforts have deterred a sizeable number of would-be illegal downloaders,” the RIAA statement reads. “Although a significant online problem undoubtedly persists, particularly with hard-core, frequent peer-to-peer users, absent action by the industry, the illegal down-loading world would be exponentially worse.”
Millions of people are doing it everyday, so it should be legal. Isn't that what immigration amnesty advocates are saying? Why shouldn't it apply here?
Was that against your will or under duress?
:o)
/h
If you think thet're ripping you off now, you should have been around in the late 50's, early 60's when they charged a buck for 1 1/2min. 45RPM singles!
If in fact the family has no computer, it's hard to see how they could do it.
LOL! Yes, God forbid we actually BUY one. Seriously, though, I really enjoy Napster, which was forced to go legit. We pay $14.95 a month and listen to whatever we want on our computer. You can download entire albums or just individual songs. May not be for everybody, but I like it.
I spent every dime of allowance I got in the 70's on 45's. Those were the days. Sadly, I don't remember how much they cost then.
Don't forget to free the poll in the linked page.
LOL!
I wonder if we post this to name this item what would we have ?
The little thingy you put in a 45 RPM record to make it play on a 78 or 33 1/3 spindle!
That could be interesting. We'd stump all the 20 somethings.
Back in the late 50's we had a used record store down the street. They sold records out of jukeboxes and I paid 5 cents for a 45, Those were the days. The selection was GREAT! I could have cared less at that time in my life whether they were the best quality...LOL
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