Should Parents Be Liable For Their Kids RIAA Misadventures?
from the legal-questions... dept
There are times when parents are considered somewhat liable for illegal actions by their kids, but in most cases, the kids themselves take responsibility. So, why is that not the case in a situation where the RIAA and music sharing is involved? In a story about a husband and wife being charged for "downloading," the couple admits that it was their two teenagers who did the downloading, but a lawyer is still telling them to pay up the $3,000 the RIAA wants. There are all sorts of problems with this. First, no one was sued for "downloading," but for sharing unauthorized music (two very different things). However, more importantly, the fact that this couple has no clue how to download music shows exactly the main weakness of the RIAA's case. They're suing people without any evidence that the people they're suing committed the crime. But, the way the system works, it's cheaper to pay up than to fight the bogus claims.
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No Subject Given
If your kid breaks the law, you as a parent are likely to be the one who's going to pay the fine if your kids aren't able to.
Hopefully the parents will take this out of thier kids allowance ... or college fund.
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Re: No Subject Given
OK, that as sarcasm. That's the dumbest idea I've heard in a while.
And while the parents may end up paying the fine, whether it's the kids or the parents responsible can likely determine the amount of the claim that would be levied against them.
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Re: No Subject Given
Discipline is a wonderful thing.
If this is the 'dumbest idea you've heard in a while', you should get out more often. Or at least read the head lines in a newspaper occasionally.
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Wrong Question
Should my neighbors (and their unsecured wireless access point) be responsible for my music habit?
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Agreed
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