Jammie Thomas Refuses To Make RIAA Propaganda In Exchange For Reduced Payment

from the laughable-propaganda dept

Thu, Jul 11th 2013 3:18pm — Mike Masnick

Back in 2009, Kevin Cogill, who was given two months house arrest for uploading a pre-release version of Guns 'N Roses' album, was also required to create a propaganda video for the RIAA about how terrible infringement is. Instead, he didn't do that, and started doing interviews explaining how the RIAA "f**** people in the a**." Amusingly, the RIAA then claimed that it was its own decision not to have Cogill create the propaganda video, because there would be "unnecessarily high production costs."

Given that experience, it seems a bit bizarre that the RIAA has suggested that it would accept a lower payment than the $222,000 verdict (the one of a few verdicts that is now the final verdict) requires if Jammie Thomas were to do the same sort of propaganda. She, however, has made it clear that she has no interest in doing that. As she told Dave Kravets at Wired:

However, the 36-year-old mother of four and the nation's first file-sharer to challenge a Recording Industry Association of America lawsuit, said she would rather go bankrupt.

"I'm not doing it," the Minnesota woman said in a telephone interview today.

Of course, bankruptcy declared after the court ruling may not be that helpful, as I don't think she can get out from the amount owed that way (a bankruptcy lawyer recently explained that it is possible, in some situations, to get out of such rewards by declaring bankruptcy before the case is final, but once it's final... not so much). Of course, the RIAA isn't that interested in the money anyway. The focus here has always been on making "an example" of Jammie Thomas and others, in the mistaken belief that it would scare people away from file sharing. That, obviously, would be the same goal of any propaganda video, and it would almost certainly fail.

The issue is that the RIAA and other maximalists still think this is an "education" issue, rather than an issue about how people want to access and share content. The "education" doesn't stop infringement, and it never has. Putting someone that was put through the wringer by the RIAA legal machine in front of a camera would just be even more ridiculous, because pretty much everyone would realize that a forced statement was not sincere, and that propaganda made in response to a required payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars really would just do more to highlight what an incredible bully the RIAA really is.

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Filed Under: copyright, jammie thomas, jammie thomas-rasset, kevin cogill, propaganda
Companies: riaa

37 Comments

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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 3:30pm

Missed chance
I would be happy to help Ms. Thomas create "a kind of a public statement", if that is indeed all they're asking of her.
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Nick Burns (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 3:33pm

Isn't that the same technique Al Qaeda uses on their hostages to force them to denounce their country?
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jameshogg (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 3:35pm

Education is about reading the copyright laws and ridiculing them.

Its transparent contradictions.
Its rationalisations.
Its blatant disregard for revolutionary technology.
Its slippery slopes.
Its encouragement of delusions towards creators.
Its unfalsifiable tautologies.
Its impossible balancing act.
Its a-historial failure to demand free speech regulation without corruption.
Its war on philosophies that pose a credible alternative to its claims such as assurance contracts.
Its dismissal of the fruits of labour of derivative artists as acceptable collateral damage.
Its monopolistic encouragement, both from legal and illegal pillars.

There is a reason why a child can see through all of it, as so easily demonstrated by the young generation of today who have come to absolutely hate the copyright laws.

It just takes one person: "why should we have to give up hard fought freedoms in the name of an unenforcable world-fence?" Word gets around, and the revolution starts.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 3:38pm

I wonder if she has considered a kickstarter
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 3:41pm

Re:
It's us doing it so it's legal
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mrtraver (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 3:42pm

VC
She could do the video, but blink "RIAA sux" in Morse code
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crade (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 3:55pm

Thats ok, the RIAA's revenues are guaranteed in the laws they write. They don't need to depend on silly things like people actually choosing to deal with them in order to make money.
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out_of_the_blue, 11 Jul 2013 @ 3:59pm

Evidently stubbornness is a piratey trait.
Sheesh, offered a cheaper way out, she's too stubborn to jump at the chance! -- Fine! Gets ME over lingering doubts about the justice: she's a hardened pirate, arrr! But she'll provide an example one way or another.

On to amusing example of Mike's ignorance: "put through the ringer" -- College boy, it's "wringer", from rollers that wring water out of clothes, mostly in early washing machines. By the way, those work great and are fun to operate, mindful of fingers. But I'm sure Mike never helped his mother do laundry: his class has servants for housework.
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arkiel (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 4:17pm

I think that in some situations, education would help diminish infringement. Of course, no discussion of music piracy would be complete without a run-down of how the RIAA has utilized huge statutory damages (originally designed to prevent companies from infringing rather than individuals) to ruin human lives in an attempt to bolster their bottom line.

Education does not help in this case, because the RIAA would invariably use the "starving artist" line, which is a lie (at this point, an outright, dyed-in-the-wool fallacy) to cover up publisher excess.

Education does not help in this case, because the RIAA has been engaging in the basest (most predictable) form of lobby protectionism, emphasizing dying business models and crushing innovators through legislative and judicial process (hello, mandatory Pandora royalty fees!).

Education does not help in this case, because the RIAA is human garbage, and everyone should avoid giving them money on the general principle that you should not feed ambulatory piles of garbage. There are still ways to hear music and only minimally contribute to that walking shitheap. Radio and Pandora are the prime examples; yes, there are royalty agreements there, but using radio doesn't actually impact how much the RIAA gets, and Pandora, if nothing else, needs to get motivated to work their own shit out aggressively.

Jammie Thomas made a principled objection to the demands of a cruel, vicious predator. That creature is human according to Mitt Romney, but commands vast resources and comprised of many individuals, and is effectively immortal. Time for the rest of the world to pull out their own Beowulf, St. George, or Gilgamesh and be as brave as Ms. Thomas, and slay this nasty fucking monster.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 4:19pm

Re: Another Stupid OOTB post
Because I'm sure you know all about getting payoffs from the MAFIAA.

That or your just a dolt. I'm never sure which.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 4:29pm

Re: Evidently stubbornness is a piratey trait.
I was about to mark this as spam but then it hit me, perhaps this Story hits closer to home that you'd like to admit. Perhaps you ran into some trouble with a certain group of people and jumped at a chance for a cheaper way out. Would certainly explain your continued devotion to post here with barely relevant attacks on Mike, its not because you want to be here or because you actually care about discrediting Mike, its just that its the easier alternative (Heck it might even explain why you put so little effort into your posts).
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Wally (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 4:52pm

I am very very sorry but...
http://youtu.be/up863eQKGUI

This is why I wouldn't want to make a PSA about piracy... This was meant to be educational and in its quest this video failed to curb software piracy and it only made the BSA look ridiculous. It's the out of touch attitude of the RIAA that will.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 4:53pm

I hate putt putt
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RadialSkid (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 5:09pm

Re:
...because the RIAA is human garbage...

They're human?!?!?
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 6:09pm

Re: Re:
Every member was once a human, but now they are.... something else. Soulless monsters that wander the interwebs searching for rights to trample, and babies to eat.
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Greevar (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 6:33pm

Re:
Education would only serve to teach people who stupidly unnecessary and unproductive copyright really is. Not to mention how it has legalized the wholesale exploitation of our culture which is now the exclusive private property the media corporations.

"So, you want your culture back? We'll give it to you at $20 a pop. It will be soaked in excrement and barely work. It will be scanning for eyeballs and if it encounters more than two, it will subsequently ignite your device in a ball of blazing inferno."
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 6:36pm

Re: Re: Another Stupid OOTB post
*you're
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 7:13pm

Re:
Kickstarter isn't for filling industry coffers and it's not a begging platform either.
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BentFranklin (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 7:15pm

Stay strong Jammie. Maybe instead you could make a video denouncing their price fixing.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 7:40pm

Leave it to Pirate Mike Masnick to rush in and defend this slimy perjurer.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 7:51pm

Re: Re: Re: Another Stupid OOTB post
Unfortunately/fortunately this board does not grace anonymous posts with an edit button. I noticed my mistake. My mistake does not make OOTB any less of a dolt.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 8:51pm

Re: Re:
If these sunglasses I found lying around one day are any indication, no.
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Reality Check, 11 Jul 2013 @ 9:02pm

Re: Evidently stubbornness is a piratey trait.
Ah, when all reason or logic fails, be a Grammar Nazi.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jul 2013 @ 10:17pm

I can't believe what the MAFIAA Thugs did to this poor woman and her four children. It's going to be hard for them to go to collage now.
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techflaws (profile), 11 Jul 2013 @ 11:01pm

Re: Re: Evidently stubbornness is a piratey trait.
And still the RIAA is not getting its money's worth.
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PaulT (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 12:37am

Well, they need to get something out of her, I suppose. Bankrupt or not, it's clear that no ordinary person can possibly pay the idiotic amount they demanded and she obviously didn't profit in any way from her "crime" so there's no booty to seize either.

Of course she's not going to make propaganda for the organisation that ruined her life for the equivalent of copying a CD for a friend, something that people were doing every day before the internet made them shit their pants. Good for her for not buckling, since the difference is probably the choice between "bankrupt and life ruined" and "bankrupt and life ruined with a slightly smaller bill".
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PaulT (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 12:39am

Re: Re: Re:
Any day with a John Carpenter reference is a day well lived, bravo!
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PaulT (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 12:44am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Another Stupid OOTB post
For what it's worth, it doesn't offer that feature to logged in users either. Sometimes embarrassing, but it at least assures that every word typed is its original form - handy, since the troll would probably edit out their idiocy after it's been pointed out as hypocritical or outright lies.
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PaulT (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 12:48am

Re:
That would be a misuse of the platform. I'd have donated to her legal defense or a petition to get the idiotic amounts demanded reduced to something realistic, but I wouldn't help her pay the RIAA this amount. Better for them to waste their years chasing the money she clearly doesn't have and will never have (since she didn't profit in any way from her crime - unlike the for-profit pirates the system was set up to punish). They've almost certainly spent far more than they'll ever see from her - and far more than any profits she ever could have lost them in the first place.
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Zakida Paul (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 1:58am

The ironic thing is this. Instead of making an example of her (as intended), they will make her an anti RIAA folk hero. Just like DOJ and MPAA did with Kim Dotcom. They never learn.
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Ninja (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 4:00am

She's just not doing it? I'd be deeply engaged in a campaign to completely trash the already shitty reputation the RIAA still has. Still, I thought she'd cave in to the pressure, you know, with those kids to take care and other stuff to pay. Strong woman it seems.
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Anonymous Howard (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 7:29am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Another Stupid OOTB post
Wouldn't bet on that
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jupiterkansas (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 9:25am

Re:
You forgot the regulatory capture.
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jupiterkansas (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 9:29am

Re:
they already have.
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btrussell (profile), 12 Jul 2013 @ 3:25pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Another Stupid OOTB post
Maybe we should have one added. It will keep aj and the likes busy for a year or two editing all of their posts where they were shown how wrong they are.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jul 2013 @ 8:02pm

Re: Evidently stubbornness is a piratey trait.
Wow, for a change OOTB has made a reasonable point "offered a cheaper way out, she's too stubborn to jump at the chance", this is actually a valid point, and I'm 100% sure she could tell the world that being used as an example by the RIAA has made her life a living hell.

That said she decided to stand up for her convictions and tell the people who are trying to destroy her "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" (to quote a great old song), and I applaud her for it.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2013 @ 3:45pm

she is quite stubborn!
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