Woman Fined $1.9 Million for Downloading 24 Songs

PAY THEM NOTHING! WHAT A WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY IN THE COURT SYSTEM!

You have got to be kidding me! Where is the responsible party who allowed her to download these songs in the first place and why aren't they being sued instead? There is so many laws and rules now that I have a hard time keeping up with them all... I dont even know if my own kids are downloading this stuff online...if it's allowed by an online company then it shouldnt be elegal...and if it is eligal, then they should be held responsible, not the person who is downloading. Just more BS from these money hungry attorneys and bussineses. Id tell them all where to go and be damned if they got any money from me. Vultures! God see's all.

I'm sorry david but thats the most retarted thing I,ve ever heard quote"she should have obeyed the law" are you kidding me this fine for 1.9 mil thats crazy for 24 SONGS!!!! Come on people its not that serious over 24 SONGS. And its funny to me that when the jury and the judge felt horrible that the kids had orginally been blamed by the mom, its like they completly forgot that the woman being sued was THEIR MOM. This is going to ruin that family for possibly generations over 24 SONGS. I think its quite obvious that all they were trying to do was get money thats the only reason and you cant lie and say "it was justice being done" how can you really be so naive.

Kazaa is a german based P2P network. They need not to comply with copyright laws since they dont exist in Germany. Therefore the source of the downloads can not be punished, however the people who pull information from there can if they reside in the United States where infringment is against the law. Rule of thumb download with caution. BTW, metallica is not going broke from people d/l there songs , there going broke cause they're like 80 and have fallen off the music scene ever since putting out crappy music.

So just to reiterate; the RIAA exists for the artists and to protect them,correct?
If this is true, are they gonna get paid the settlement?Somehow I dont think so.

I BET RINGTONES WERE GOING OFF DURING THE TRIAL....LOL 98% OF THEM ILLEGAL..... NO ONE GOT CHARGED. GIVE HER A BREAK!!! SHES A SINGLE MOM!!! I KNOW ATLEAST 20 GUYS THAT SELL ATLEAST 50 COPIES A DAY AT ITS LEAST.......

For a long time people did not know that P2P is illegal as the sites sponsoring it go out of their way to indicate that it is legal. But a few years ago it became clear that it is not legal. It is surprising that RIAA chose to go after someone who downloaded 24 songs, apparently for personal enjoyment, while there are those out there downloading, burning and selling the songs for profit. Nevertheless, she is wrong and knew it and certainly knew it when she was first tried in a court of law. Its clear that she thought that she could get jury nullification, meaning that a jury would just find her not guility for reasons other than law. That sucks too. Oddly, with an old fashioned tape deck you could copy songs, burn tapes and then people sold them at concerts or junk stores, whatever. Its an odd situation but someone should make it plan that P2P is not legal. Wouldn't it be right to boot that off the internet? If it is illegal to do, would it not be a service to consumers to not have it there? Didn't Kazaa go legal with fees and sharing profits with artists a few years ago? How old is this case?

Only in America would a harmless crime cost someone millions of dollars, and yet a sex offender, who rapes and beats a 5 year old child gets a year in jail... What are we doing??? It seems that money is more important than our children..Shame on America!!!!

The real thieves are the RIAA, they rip off the artist, the consumers and this poor woman, how can they sue a normal person for a million dollars? nobody has that kind of money. they need to be dismantled, they shouldn't be in business and the jury should be ashamed of themselves, and I say the RIAA rips off artists because they keep almost all the profits from cd sales, artists have to tour to make money. boycott the RIAA!!!!

Well, I think everybody who has ever downloaded a song from the internet illegaly should stand up, say they did it, and tie up the court system for years on end. Not to mention all the cash they would have to dish out in court for fines that are not going to be able to be paid. With everyone in jail, the ones that are out are going to be paying the bill. Who's really in jail when that happens ?

Is this article for real??

for 24 songs???? wow!!! they have nothing better to do... and a single mom with 4 kids at that!!!

shame on you judge!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is purely insane. Somebody is trying to make a point and a bad one at that. Are they going to sue the 6.2 billion other people downloading crap everyday.

Attack the technology that provides the ability to capture and post movies, sound bytes, songs and other media. Not the people using the technology to get it.

Insane...Yes..She is an example and 'They' are using her as an example...Can it happen? Yes, of course we all know that...It is one more sign of the times we are living in...GOVERNMENT WILL CONTROL ALL OF US ...sooner than you think.
Consider States going after any internet sales tax....FDA saying that Cheerios now must come under drug law....Some Acorn members participating in up coming Census and 'You' will have to complete the form or 'You' will be fined .WE, have to pay tax's...Unless of course it was fair such as a Fair Tax, but that currently does not exist.. As I said big government is watching what you say, think, consume and do....and if you do something 'wrong' in the eyes of 'They' know what's right for you...You can and will be fined, jailed etc....

How many of us see that 'Warning FBI'.... etc...before we watch a DVD...big fine there. 1984 here we come

come on 80,000 a song and who's pocket is that going into the judge's what does he need a new car or new house for god sake.. get real.... if you are going to fine someone for that then fine them for an amount they might be able to pay like double the money for the cd, who has that amount of money,,

john salley --- how does this have anything to do with gay marriage? you must be so obsessively opposed to gay marriage that you cant even think about anything else without it polluting your mind. my god - get a life!

why the hell dont they sue kazaa? that was the source....just another way for somebody way more powerful to earn their god damn bonuses....i hope they die....everything will be ok Thomas-Rasset

If she stood outside Best Buy, beat someone over the head with a club and stole 24 CD's, she would have gotten in less trouble. This is far beyond absurd.

This much money is very extreme for this kind of crime.But, it is unlawful to download copyrighted music.I do needlework.And I am not allowed to make a copy of a licensed product pattern without permission.It is so theft.When you gain something without paying,It's called stealing.Downloading is just getting a free ride and don't want to pay for the artists talent.Pay for music in a store and quit being a tight wad.!!

I'm a very senior citizen, so I'm not up on legal and illegal downloading. Would someone be so kind as to tell me how much it would have cost Thomas -Rasset to download 24 songs legally.

I'm assuming that she could have downloaded the twenty four songs for less than thirty dollars. If she had shoplifted thirty dollars worth of songs and offered to make restitution, just about any retailer would have let her slide if this was her first offense. At worst she would have had to face a charge of petit larceny and would have been given probation for a first offense...or perhaps fined a few bucks.

What I can't understand is why this petty commercial offense should be considered heinous enough to merit the imposition of such a stupendous fine.

The judge should have vacated the verdict as disproportionate.