Music Pirate Mom deserves new trial

[maceman]

Everyone is making some good thoughts to consider. It sounds like everyone is on the same page. There is a problem...how does one fix it?The only thing(s) I can think of is sort of a reversal, that is, go back a few internet steps to when the problems wasn't so bad. For example:1. What if the days of music streaming dissapeared. No more full streamed music= no way for people to set-up their computers to record the music and steal it.2. How to stop P2P file sharing? Impossible because CD's and downloadable music is sold and thus the ability to put on the internet. The only way to fix that going forward would be that each musician would have their website, a person would pay a set fee for restricted access to the artists music on the site, but never be able or allowed to download it to their own system/ipod/whatever.... else you open up the door to sharing once again...3. Get rid of the internet all together.Obviously, you can see the rediculousness in my suggestions. Noone would opt in for any of these, but it helps illustrate where the problem lies. It has nothing to do with what can be set-up, people will always find a way to usurp the system. As long as human nature is at work, there will always be theft and the like.all we can do is make sure we are watching our own actions closely, educate our friends/families/children etc.. as was suggested and continue to think of different ways to curb the attraction to steal. People learn by example and the internet can be such an aweful environment for many crimes. It is a shame that such a clever technology has hurt so many people and so many industries. We are only hitting on one of perhaps millions!Maceman

[lsp]

I have read this thread and I am surprised that musicians/performers are ok with people stealing intellectual properties. That theft results in lost income/revenue to the artists, writers, etc. Mom should have to pay a fine. It should not be millions of dollars BUT she hould feel the sting. If her kids are minors and still at home downloading it should make her pay attention to what her children are doing. Remember the fine is a punishment as the result of breaking the law. We all know the music/entertainment world is dramatically different and still changing BUT if I write it, record it and/or perform it then by God I want to get paid.

[jonathanm]

I'm all for a new system, but that doesn't mean we should stop enforcing the law while trying to come up with a new system. We have to change culture to let people know that it is stealing, and stealing from the artist, not the greedy record company. People caught violating the law need to be prosecuted, as is happening in this case.But if we just try to change culture and prosecute, without coming up with a new system, we're all doomed. And if we abandon culture change and prosecution while building a new system, we're equally doomed.

[fusilierb]

I told myself I was gonna stay out of this one, but...I never disputed the fact that she broke the law or that she shouldn't pay some sort of penalty. Everyone of us wants to compensated for what we do and none of us wants our intellectual property stolen. What shocks me about this case is the SIZE of the penalty and the unbelievable amount of time and energy and money spent dealing with this case in the courts over five years. These proceedings are a joke.If we're really just trying to make an example out of he so that we can "teach" our young a lesson about stealing, maybe we should just publicly execute her? Better yet, force her children to watch. Burn the witch! That ought to teach everyone a good lesson.

[jonathanm]

It is ironic that she's the one who keeps sending it to trial, and the penalty keeps going up. Should have taken responsibility, 'fessed up and settled for the $3500, 'cause $2/song is pretty darn fair.

[allends]

Brian, I want to congratulate you on the size of your big heart! Your attitude about this issue is so admirable I find myself agreeing with you 100%. But turn the page and there’s a whole other 100% of the story, and that side of the story involves lawyers. Lawyers argue these cases and lawyers win or lose them. If the penalty appears to be disproportionate to the crime, it was lawyers who put the accused in this situation. This case was brought to this nasty conclusion because of legal maneuvering by professional people with attitudes. A case that drags on & on like this one is bound to become battleground of ill-wills rather than become a process through which justice will be served. BTW: I can’t agree with those who characterize the defendant as “stupid”. Her lawyers crafted her defense so there’s no telling what her motivations were by merely looking at the case from a distance. I admit that I haven’t paid much attention to this case because I’m too jaded to believe that I will learn anything truly meaningful by reading about it. Done Rambling,AllenJul 15, 2009, 5:15pm, fusilierb wrote:I told myself I was gonna stay out of this one, but...I never disputed the fact that she broke the law or that she shouldn't pay some sort of penalty. Everyone of us wants to compensated for what we do and none of us wants our intellectual property stolen. What shocks me about this case is the SIZE of the penalty and the unbelievable amount of time and energy and money spent dealing with this case in the courts over five years. These proceedings are a joke.If we're really just trying to make an example out of he so that we can "teach" our young a lesson about stealing, maybe we should just publicly execute her? Better yet, force her children to watch. Burn the witch! That ought to teach everyone a good lesson.

[fusilierb]

Jul 16, 2009, 1:29pm, allends wrote:Brian, I want to congratulate you on the size of your big heart! Your attitude about this issue is so admirable I find myself agreeing with you 100%. But turn the page and there’s a whole other 100% of the story, and that side of the story involves lawyers. Lawyers argue these cases and lawyers win or lose them. If the penalty appears to be disproportionate to the crime, it was lawyers who put the accused in this situation. This case was brought to this nasty conclusion because of legal maneuvering by professional people with attitudes. A case that drags on & on like this one is bound to become battleground of ill-wills rather than become a process through which justice will be served. BTW: I can’t agree with those who characterize the defendant as “stupid”. Her lawyers crafted her defense so there’s no telling what her motivations were by merely looking at the case from a distance. I admit that I haven’t paid much attention to this case because I’m too jaded to believe that I will learn anything truly meaningful by reading about it. Done Rambling,AllenJul 15, 2009, 5:15pm, fusilierb wrote:I told myself I was gonna stay out of this one, but...I never disputed the fact that she broke the law or that she shouldn't pay some sort of penalty. Everyone of us wants to compensated for what we do and none of us wants our intellectual property stolen. What shocks me about this case is the SIZE of the penalty and the unbelievable amount of time and energy and money spent dealing with this case in the courts over five years. These proceedings are a joke.If we're really just trying to make an example out of he so that we can "teach" our young a lesson about stealing, maybe we should just publicly execute her? Better yet, force her children to watch. Burn the witch! That ought to teach everyone a good lesson.Allen, I'm glad you brought this up. I was going to go into my lawyer rant, but decided to drop it. But I completely agree! There has been lots of judgement about this ladies sanity or mental capabilities thrown around in response to this thread, but the fact of the matter is that it was her lawyers that, in doing their job, have driven this ladies actions. How in the world is she supposed to know what to do in this situation? As many of you have pointed out, she's just an "idiot" right? She's doing what everyone else does when faced with a criminal charge, hires a lawyer who tells her what to do. I would have done the same in her situation. And if they told me not to settle and push on, I wouldn't have settled and would have pushed on. Why not, its been five years now and we're just going BACK to trial?Again, does this really seem like the best approach to solving this problem? If there are any lawyers on these boards, I'm not knocking you down. I have lots of good lawyer friends and in todays whacked out system of justice, we need em. But this is crazy!B

[mojobone]

Jul 11, 2009, 12:01pm, fusilierb wrote:I seem to have started something I now wish I didn't. If anyone is interested in all the gory details of this crime and the five year legal saga around it, a detailed play-by-play can be found here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_v._ThomasFIVE YEARS of lawyers fees, court time and juror's time have all been thrown at this particular lady. I'd love to see the total of all those numbers. The end result, a mother of four is going back to court again to fight a judgement of 80 grand per song for 24 songs she had sitting on Kazaaz'et network way back in 2005 that were then downloaded a little over 1000 times by others. The entire thing seems like an expensive joke to me.I'm out of this one from here on out. Time to get back to writing music.B$10 times 1000 is $10,000-now multiply by the twenty-four songs, you get $240,000. She didn't settle for $3500, she IS an idiot, QED.