News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page

NewsMinecabal-elitecorporatefilesharing-p2p — Viewing Item


12 yr old sued { September 9 2003 }

Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
   http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96797,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96797,00.html

12-Year-Old Sued for Music Downloading
Tuesday, September 09, 2003

NEW YORK — The music industry has turned its big legal guns on Internet music-swappers — including a 12-year-old New York City girl who thought downloading songs was fun.

Brianna LaHara said she was frightened to learn she was among the hundreds of people sued yesterday by giant music companies in federal courts around the country.

"I got really scared. My stomach is all turning," Brianna said last night at the city Housing Authority apartment where she lives with her mom and her 9-year-old brother.

"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?"

The Recording Industry Association of America (search) — a music-industry lobbying group behind the lawsuits — couldn't answer that question.

"We are taking each individual on a case-by-case basis," said RIAA spokeswoman Amy Weiss.

Asked if the association knew Brianna was 12 when it decided to sue her, Weiss answered, "We don't have any personal information on any of the individuals."

Brianna's mom, Sylvia Torres, said the lawsuit was "a total shock."

"My daughter was on the verge of tears when she found out about this," Torres said.

The family signed up for the Kazaa (search) music-swapping service three months ago, and paid a $29.99 service charge.

Usually, they listen to songs without recording them. "There's a lot of music there, but we just listen to it and let it go," Torres said.

When reporters visited teh apartment last night, Brianna — who her mom says is an honors student — was helping her brother with his homework.

Brianna was among 261 people sued for copying thousands of songs via popular Internet file-sharing software — and thousands more suits could be on the way.

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

At the same time, the RIAA offered amnesty to file-swappers who come forward and agree to stop illegally downloading music over the Internet.

People who already have been sued are not eligible for amnesty.

Brianna and the others sued yesterday under federal copyright law could face penalties of up to $150,000 per song, but the RIAA has already settled some cases for as little as $3,000.

"It's not like we were doing anything illegal," said Torres. "This is a 12-year-old girl, for crying out loud."



12 yr old sued { September 9 2003 }
Artists defend free downloading
Byrds vs metallica [jpg]
Cd sales drop
Chuck d says power to people
College students sued for sharing music { April 4 2003 }
Daughter downloads get mom sued { December 7 2003 }
Defend napster 6 5 03 [jpg]
Destroy computers of downloaders { June 17 2003 }
Downloads scoff at music industry
Dutch court throws out control of kazaa { December 19 2003 }
Falsehoods ian
Fed busts underground file sharing sites { August 25 2004 }
File sharers switch to other services { November 12 2003 }
File sharing ruled legal canada
File sharing sites not liable for infringement { August 20 2004 }
File swap not infringing { April 26 2003 }
File swapper takes on riaa { August 22 2003 }
Firm to forgive repentant song downloaders { September 5 2003 }
Girl 12 settles piracy suit 2k
Grokster to shut down under legal settlement
House panel approves copyright bill increase penalties { March 31 2004 }
How riaa tracks downloaders
Hundreds of music swappers sued
Industry now sites pornography { September 7 2003 }
Judge file swapping legal { April 26 2003 }
Judge rejects riaa subpoenas
Kazaa most downloaded program
Lawsuit kazaar
Lifeline ian { February 2 2003 }
Metallica vs byrds
Methods that would make george orwell blush { August 22 2003 }
Mit fights subpoenas
Music downloads up 27 percent one year { April 27 2004 }
Music industry sues 744 more file sharers
Musicians caught in middle { September 14 2003 }
Napster deal with penn state for students
Napster to reenter net music { October 10 2003 }
P2p war
Radiohead tops charts after shunning music industry { January 10 2008 }
Record company investigators raided australian universities { February 6 2004 }
Record industry may not subpoena providers
Record industry sues 532 more file sharers { March 23 2004 }
Recording industry subpoenas sharers
Riaa lawsuits against file traders { June 25 2003 }
Riaa nails 1000 in jihad
Riaa not targeting small downloaders
RIAA sues 493 more music swappers { May 24 2004 }
Riaa sues 531 suspected music pirates { February 17 2004 }
Scotch tape stymies sony music rip protection
Single mom overwhelmed by recording industry lawsuit { May 26 2004 }
Software thwart sharing { May 4 2003 }
Sony sued for spyware on music cds
Student sued by music industry { April 4 2003 }
Student sued for paper cd copying { October 9 2003 }
Teens feel sharing should be legal { September 8 2003 }
Teens ok filesharing
Tower records bankruptcy blamed on downloads { February 5 2004 }
Tracking music file sharing
University file sharing orientation { August 28 2003 }
US sees growth in its CD sales market { January 6 2005 }
Us sides with record labels against verizon { April 18 2003 }
Verizon turns over names { June 6 2003 }

Files Listed: 63



Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security
Archives
Support one-state solution for Israel and Palestine Tea Party bumper stickers JFK for Dummies, The Assassination made simple