Music industry watch
RIAA sued for racketeering
C-Net writes that the RIAA is being sued for racketeering:
Through her attorneys, Michele Scimeca contends that by suing file-swappers for copyright infringement, and then offering to settle instead of pursuing a case where liability could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the RIAA is violating the same laws that are more typically applied to gangsters and organized crime.
"This scare tactic has caused a vast amount of settlements from individuals who feared fighting such a large institution and feel victim to these actions and felt forced to provide funds to settle these actions instead of fighting," Scimeca's attorney, Bart Lombardo, wrote in documents filed with a New Jersey federal court. "These types of scare tactics are not permissible and amount to extortion."
While this seems funny at first, lets take this a couple steps further -- lets assume that this woman succeeds in suing the RIAA. Could the RIAA be forced for sue people for the maximum penalty under the law and not allow case settlements? If that is the case, then I would expect the maximum penalty per offense to come under heat next. Copyright infringements can be punishable by up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, and civil suits can ask for statutory damages up to $100,000 per infringed copyright.
What if a teenager gets busted for sharing 1,000 songs? This teenager would be liable for a million bucks and if there was no way to reach a settlement this kid's life would be ruined. Not a fair punishment, now is it?
So, either this counter-suit is bogus (smells like it to me), or downloading takes on a much higher risk. If it is the latter, I'm sure some judges will realize that these damages are braindamaged and challenge the law. If the damages are lowered to a reasonable level then the benefit of pursuing these cases may erode even further.
Who knows what will happen next. Sometimes I wish I also had a law degree to understand these things better.
Posted by Mayhem at February 20, 2004 03:44 PM
