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Student fined 675k for downloading


Guest N4S
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Wow.

 

Sucks for him.

 

A PhD student at Boston University has been ordered to pay $675,000, split between four record labels, for sharing music over the internet.

 

Joel Tenenbaum, a 25 year old graduate student studying for a PhD in Physics, admitted using a variety of peer-to-peer software including Kazaa, iMesh and Napster to download and distribute the 30 songs focused on in the case, and admitted that he had lied during his first deposition in September 2008 when he suggested that some songs had been downloaded to his computer by family members or friends.

 

Evidence gathered using MediaSentry revealed that Tenenbuam was sharing 800 songs from his computer in August 2004, according to Ars Technica. He started sharing files in 1999, was warned by his father that he would get sued in 2002, received a warning letter from the law firm of the plaintiffs in this case in 2005, was sued in 2007, and only stopped part the way through 2008.

 

In a fairly one-sided trial, Judge Nancy Gertner found Tenenbuam guilty of violating copyright laws and left the jury to decide how much damages should be awarded - with US law stating that the record companies are entitled to between $750 and $30,000 for each of the 30 songs, or up to $150,000 per track if the infringments are found to be wilful. The jury decided on $22,500 for each infringement. The recording labels involved in the case were subsidiaries of Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony.

 

http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/08/01/us-student-ordered-to-pay-675k-fine-to-the-riaa

 

$22,500 for each song! WTF

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It doesn't surprise me at all.

 

There are people in my town that have gotten letters from companies warning them that if they download music anymore they will be sued, an it's not too uncommon to see people get fined $50,000 even though this kid got fined $750,000.

 

 

And, people shouldn't be too surprised because it is ILLEGAL to download music like that.

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^ agreed.

 

and the dude sounds like a complete douchbag in the video on cnn.com

 

go to cnn.com and click videos. they interview him

Edited by N4S
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Poor guy got used as an example, but apparently he was hosting music as well as downloading.Hosting is different from just downloading because he was actually putting music out there for illegal downloads.

Edited by Ya Dig!
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Good. The kid got what he deserved. You can't go around murdering people and be surprised if you get your wrists slapped.

LOL

 

Do you go into every thread and feel like it is your duty to make a stupid post?

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If so many damn people are doing it how do they catch one person?

The RIAA has a record of suing people without computers as well as dead people. They target random people, because odds are, a random person has downloaded music.

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If so many damn people are doing it how do they catch one person?

The RIAA has a record of suing people without computers as well as dead people. They target random people, because odds are, a random person has downloaded music.

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Poor guy got used as an example, but apparently he was hosting music as well as downloading.Hosting is different from just downloading because he was actually putting music out there for illegal downloads.

 

 

that is exactly right.

 

its like doing drugs compared to dealing drugs. both are illegal, but dealing is way more serious

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but i dont get why he kept downloading/sharing even after he got that warning letter.

 

He was simply arrogant which you can tell by that CNN interview.

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