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  Tony Preston, 15 Sep 2003 @ 7:06am

  
  

  Legal Liability? Prove it was me!

  I fully expect someone to claim they did not down load the music and force the RIAA to prove it was them at the computer. It seems that just because the computer is in my home, the music downloaded from that computer, does not prove it was me or my family.
  
  It might be a virus... There are computer viruses that take over the computer connection and use the machine as a server... Yep... I was infected.
  
  Or, one of my kids allowed a friend to download the music... It wasn't me, it wasn't my family that did it.
  
  Proof is absolute, reasonable doubt is easier.
  

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  • 

    Munich, 15 Sep 2003 @ 9:00am

    
    

    Re: Legal Liability? Prove it was me!

    First, note that I am against the RIAA, so this comment is not in defence of them, but pointing out that you need to go after the law that is holding them up, not on tort tactics.
    
    Keep in mind that the threashold of legal liability in a tort case is a lot lower than criminal law (think O.J.). And there is plenty of precedent for holding parents responsible for their kid's actions and for getting around the other defences you outlined.
    
    For example, your kid throws a baseball through my window. You weren't responsible - you were at work. Every court, however, will find that as a parent, you are responsible for damages caused by your minor, so you are on the hook for paying for my window.
    
    Say that there was a group of kids playing and no one takes responsibility. I can probably then go after the parents of all the kids and get compensated a little from each one, or just take one of the kid's parents to court, knowing they will settle since at $200 an hour, lawyers are more expensive a handyman.
    
    Keep in mind the RIAA is not really after money, they are trying to make examples of a few so that people are scared of downloading. Even if you manage to get a dismissal from a judge, you will be out 1000s of dollars in the process, which is still scary for a lot of people.

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  Ed Halley, 15 Sep 2003 @ 7:33am

  
  

  No Subject Given

  Then there's the WiFi defense. "These Wireless Access Points ship unsecured. I knowingly/unknowingly installed it in such a way as to allow neighbors to use my AP as a gateway to share my bandwidth. If I knowingly did it, I'm a safe-harbor provider. If I unknowingly did it, I'm reasonably non-negligent due to the unsecure factory defaults."

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