That's the point, huge awards for the Plaintiff in a civil action are usually due to criminal or near criminal behavior by the Defendant. In this case the only judgment was that she she was found guilty of illegally sharing 24 songs.
The term "illegally sharing" is vague. What exactly did she do to cause such a huge court award? My assumption is Jammie Thomas made a few copies for friends, maybe. This would make the $1.92 million award absurd beyond comprehension. People involved in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scandal will probably get away with less.
It would seem that it was at least partially proven that Jammie Thomas was burning CDs for resale. The $1.92 million verdict against her is still ridiculous, but this is probably not just a case of simply grabbing a few tracks for personal use. What was proven (or at least reasonable to imply from her actions) about what she was doing with the unauthorized downloads? It's never been clearly described here.
If she was selling music there must be a way to determine an estimate of the retail value of the amount she sold and award damages to the RIAA for that amount plus a punitive and exemplary amount to act as a deterrent to others. A total award of several thousand dollars would seem a maximum reasonable amount given the circumstances, or is there a 5,000 unit an hout CD reproduction factory and a 100,000 member file sharing site that Ms. Thomas owns that is being kept secret?
The US civil court system seems to be seriously messed up given the circumstances in this case. This has a look of possible criminal bias.
Is Pirate bay guilty? Yes, I think they probably are but not being a Swedish law expert my opinion is worthless.
Was the judge biased? Being a member of those organizations associated with the copyright lobbyists the judge is definitely biased. Even if he is not the mere appearance of the possibility of being biased should have been enough to have a mistrial.
Sweden seems to like to remind you they had a solid and profitable trade relation with Nazi Germany during 1939 - 1945. The government mindset that allowed that seems to still exist.
Agreed, this is brilliant. I think this will be the future of many books. I can see the text contents being free for online download and the "book" being a rich environment only available for a fee. Read the book, get the T-Shirt.
The RIAA is irrelevant to the music industry. Once all artists understand they do not need to "sign a record deal" to sell music (and make money) the record companies will disappear. There needs to be a ban on the "getting a record contract" movies like La Bamba and American Hot Wax. I can almost see the RIAA financing any screenplay that uses "sign a record deal" as a central idea in an attempt to perpetuate the myth that the only way to success is a recording contract. It could be a bonanza for second rate screenplay writers.
The fact that the RIAA blog can not accept commentary from the public is of no surprise. The RIAA does not want to hear anyone's opinion, it's not its function.
As for radio's influence on the music business model, I only listen to talk radio - Did you know that aliens have a galactic trade space platform in Earth orbit? I wonder when the RIAA will sue the aliens for downloading music?
I am a programmer and you are correct, counting votes is an easy program. However, voting machines are custom configured for each vote so there are many chances for errors in the setup. Also, the basic system is a distributed database that keeps score. It's quite common for the front end programmers to not know how the database works and that is what causes these errors to be made.
Personally, I think votes should be on paper and counted by hand. Anyone who thinks a programmed voting machine is a good idea must also love computerized slot machines and off shore online poker.
Another scary thought: Voting machines are designed to be field configurable at the hardware level, using the Internet. They can change behavior during the voting and from what I have seen/heard the security is not world class.
I wouldn't say they suck, but I would say they are not the best musicians currently performing and are very much over rated.
I am most annoyed that this Bono person (Paul David Hewson born 1960) keeps getting audiences with world leaders asking his opinion on important issues. He's a singer not a scientist or great thinker. He may have been cutting edge, political, and all about the music when "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was the opening track of 1983's War album but now he's just a rich guy attempting to get more.
At first I was embarrassed by that South Park episode that made very crude fun of him, now not so much.
Judge Tomas Norström appears to be either completely incompetent or completely corrupt. According to Swedish sources:
Judge Tomas Norström is a member of the Swedish Association of Copyright (SFU) with Henrik Pontén, Peter Danowsky and Monique who represented copyrights holders in Pirate Bay trial.
Judge Tomas Norström is a member of the board of the Swedish Association for Industrial Property (SFIR) which pushed for stronger copyrights.
Judge Tomas Norström is employed by Foundation, SE. Here a colleague is Monique Wadsted who represents the American film companies in the Pirate Bay trial.
"But I have not felt that I am biased because of those commitments." says Tomas Norström, Judge of the Pirate Bay case.
I suppose this proves that Fox News has set the standard for journalism in America. I suppose he's simply trying to attract students that want to be trained as fact ignorant, paid agenda, stooges for the far right (or left) extremists.
The start-up founder visa sounds like a standard political non-action. It's just the same old visa policy repackaged and producing more paper work and no more results. Starting a business takes a large amount of money and I doubt there are many people out there with huge sums to bring with them.
As for the foreigners taking jobs: I do consulting work as a trouble shooter in the IT industry. My bread and butter is being parachuted in at the end of a project that was done by off shore firms or H1B contractors and fix what they got wrong. It's not that the non-locals are bad programmers - far from it, some are outstanding. It's mostly documentation, communication, and management problems. Many managers forget that the bulk of a software project is analysis, documentation, and testing, not coding. I hope companies do not realize that H1B workers and off-shore projects are false savings and just push even greater costs onto the back end of an IT project when they start to fail. It would cost me a large amount of business.
I have had my work used without permission by a Web site but they did keep my name on it. I thought "Well, if they had to pay for it or go through licensing they would not have used it and I would not be getting free advertising.", so I did nothing except send them a message saying it would be nice to ask next time.
I do agree with RD that there are two sets of rules: one for teenagers downloading fourth rate Metallica MP3s and another for corporations usurping public domain works like 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' and claiming ownership.
The concept of scalping has always confused me. If I buy a stereo that was on sale at a deep discount and then resell it at a profit that is considered commerce. But, if I buy a concert ticket and resell it at a profit that's a crime or at least immoral? This smacks of RIAA style brain-washing.
It would seem that scalping means that the tickets were sold too cheaply or were not made available in a manner that allowed the general public access to the exchange. If a scalper is willing to line up at three in the morning to get the much in demand tickets why should that person not make a profit? I would rather pay extra and get my sleep and not miss work.
I think ChrisB's idea of an auction system is a good one. The price is what people think the ticket is worth, not what a scalper or a ticket selling monopoly set it to be.
I taught college courses for a while and I let the students do anything they wanted: tape recorders, proxy note takers, not showing up at all and getting it all from the course materials.
The results were always the same: Those that put effort into the understanding the material and did the assignments achieved good marks and those that did not did poorly or failed.
The computers are not causing the students to not pay attention. It is simply that the students do not have the self discipline to not facebook (I accept that, like 'party', it's a verb now), twitter, and IM during the lectures.
I applaud the effort of Diane Sieber to train students to pay attention. However, I suspect her job performance evaluation is based on student performance and this is her motivation. More students not failing and better marks equals more money and a better standing for the school.
Many instructors are in positions where the job is to get as much information and understanding into student's minds as possible and those that will not do the work are left to themselves. They do not have the luxury of providing self discipline training to students that attend college for the fun of it rather than as the basis of a career.
Result of the Separation of Content and Distribution
This argument of one side subsidizing the other is due to the separation of content and distribution. When media companies controlled everything all was well. Now that more and more content is distributed through the Internet it's only those media companies that have no idea how to use the internet that are asking for payment rather than taking control.
It would seem that both the paying of the ISP by the content company and the ISP paying for content is silly. Each needs the other - the relationship is symbiotic.
Wouldn't it be silly if a small record label has to pay a multi-billion dollar Internet telecommunications giant like AT&T because someone AT&T customers downloaded free samples of some songs the label produced from the music label's site.
It's also absurd that a huge media company like EMI would have to be paid by a small rural ISP that had a customer that connected to an EMI site and downloaded music samples from EMI.
On the post: Jammie Thomas Not Willing To Settle Yet... Acccording To The RIAA
Re: Size of the Settlement was Punitive?
The term "illegally sharing" is vague. What exactly did she do to cause such a huge court award? My assumption is Jammie Thomas made a few copies for friends, maybe. This would make the $1.92 million award absurd beyond comprehension. People involved in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scandal will probably get away with less.
On the post: Jammie Thomas Not Willing To Settle Yet... Acccording To The RIAA
Size of the Settlement was Punitive?
If she was selling music there must be a way to determine an estimate of the retail value of the amount she sold and award damages to the RIAA for that amount plus a punitive and exemplary amount to act as a deterrent to others. A total award of several thousand dollars would seem a maximum reasonable amount given the circumstances, or is there a 5,000 unit an hout CD reproduction factory and a 100,000 member file sharing site that Ms. Thomas owns that is being kept secret?
The US civil court system seems to be seriously messed up given the circumstances in this case. This has a look of possible criminal bias.
On the post: Swedish Appeals Court Denies Pirate Bay Retrial -- Says No Bias By Judge
Guilt versus Fairness
Was the judge biased? Being a member of those organizations associated with the copyright lobbyists the judge is definitely biased. Even if he is not the mere appearance of the possibility of being biased should have been enough to have a mistrial.
Sweden seems to like to remind you they had a solid and profitable trade relation with Nazi Germany during 1939 - 1945. The government mindset that allowed that seems to still exist.
On the post: Buy The Novel, Get A Lot More -- Including True Reasons To Buy
Re: Sounds like fun
On the post: RIAA Has A Blog? And They Use It To Read My Mind!
RIAA is Irrelevant
The fact that the RIAA blog can not accept commentary from the public is of no surprise. The RIAA does not want to hear anyone's opinion, it's not its function.
As for radio's influence on the music business model, I only listen to talk radio - Did you know that aliens have a galactic trade space platform in Earth orbit? I wonder when the RIAA will sue the aliens for downloading music?
On the post: Yet Another E-Voting Glitch; This One Adds 5,000 Phantom Votes
Re: How hard is it?
Personally, I think votes should be on paper and counted by hand. Anyone who thinks a programmed voting machine is a good idea must also love computerized slot machines and off shore online poker.
Another scary thought: Voting machines are designed to be field configurable at the hardware level, using the Internet. They can change behavior during the voting and from what I have seen/heard the security is not world class.
On the post: Guy Sues Guinness For Naming Him The Most Litigious Person In The World
Only in America or You can cut the irony with a knife
On the post: Radiohead's Manager: File Sharing Should Be Legal; It's Great For Music
Re: Thats because U2 sucks...
I am most annoyed that this Bono person (Paul David Hewson born 1960) keeps getting audiences with world leaders asking his opinion on important issues. He's a singer not a scientist or great thinker. He may have been cutting edge, political, and all about the music when "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was the opening track of 1983's War album but now he's just a rich guy attempting to get more.
At first I was embarrassed by that South Park episode that made very crude fun of him, now not so much.
On the post: Judge In Pirate Bay Case Appears To Have Ties To The Copyright Lobby
Corruption in the Judicial System?
Judge Tomas Norström is a member of the Swedish Association of Copyright (SFU) with Henrik Pontén, Peter Danowsky and Monique who represented copyrights holders in Pirate Bay trial.
Judge Tomas Norström is a member of the board of the Swedish Association for Industrial Property (SFIR) which pushed for stronger copyrights.
Judge Tomas Norström is employed by Foundation, SE. Here a colleague is Monique Wadsted who represents the American film companies in the Pirate Bay trial.
"But I have not felt that I am biased because of those commitments." says Tomas Norström, Judge of the Pirate Bay case.
I say three strikes and you're out.
On the post: Yet Another Journalism Professor Gets Nearly Every Fact Wrong In Saying Google Needs To Pay
We are in Trouble
On the post: Time For A Startup Founder Visa
They took are jobs!
As for the foreigners taking jobs: I do consulting work as a trouble shooter in the IT industry. My bread and butter is being parachuted in at the end of a project that was done by off shore firms or H1B contractors and fix what they got wrong. It's not that the non-locals are bad programmers - far from it, some are outstanding. It's mostly documentation, communication, and management problems. Many managers forget that the bulk of a software project is analysis, documentation, and testing, not coding. I hope companies do not realize that H1B workers and off-shore projects are false savings and just push even greater costs onto the back end of an IT project when they start to fail. It would cost me a large amount of business.
On the post: How Should You React If Someone Uses Your Content Without Crediting You?
Fair Use
I do agree with RD that there are two sets of rules: one for teenagers downloading fourth rate Metallica MP3s and another for corporations usurping public domain works like 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' and claiming ownership.
On the post: Electro-Harmonix Shows You Can Handle Trademark Infringement Without The Legal Nastygrams
Cool
On the post: Vancouver Olympics Using Copyright Law (Rather Than Scalping Laws) To Ban Ticket Reselling
Scalping is Bad?
It would seem that scalping means that the tickets were sold too cheaply or were not made available in a manner that allowed the general public access to the exchange. If a scalper is willing to line up at three in the morning to get the much in demand tickets why should that person not make a profit? I would rather pay extra and get my sleep and not miss work.
I think ChrisB's idea of an auction system is a good one. The price is what people think the ticket is worth, not what a scalper or a ticket selling monopoly set it to be.
On the post: After Being Educated About Negative Effects, Students Stop Using Laptops In Class
Student's Choices
The results were always the same: Those that put effort into the understanding the material and did the assignments achieved good marks and those that did not did poorly or failed.
The computers are not causing the students to not pay attention. It is simply that the students do not have the self discipline to not facebook (I accept that, like 'party', it's a verb now), twitter, and IM during the lectures.
I applaud the effort of Diane Sieber to train students to pay attention. However, I suspect her job performance evaluation is based on student performance and this is her motivation. More students not failing and better marks equals more money and a better standing for the school.
Many instructors are in positions where the job is to get as much information and understanding into student's minds as possible and those that will not do the work are left to themselves. They do not have the luxury of providing self discipline training to students that attend college for the fun of it rather than as the basis of a career.
On the post: Harlan Ellison Sues Again
Re: Wow! What's piss going for these days?
On the post: Harlan Ellison Sues Again
Wow! What's piss going for these days?
On the post: Jay Leno Freaks Out That The Unemployed Might Prefer Money Over Free Leno Tickets
Re: Re:
On the post: Content Companies Demand Subsidies From ISPs... While ISPs Demand Subsidies From Content Companies
Result of the Separation of Content and Distribution
It would seem that both the paying of the ISP by the content company and the ISP paying for content is silly. Each needs the other - the relationship is symbiotic.
Wouldn't it be silly if a small record label has to pay a multi-billion dollar Internet telecommunications giant like AT&T because someone AT&T customers downloaded free samples of some songs the label produced from the music label's site.
It's also absurd that a huge media company like EMI would have to be paid by a small rural ISP that had a customer that connected to an EMI site and downloaded music samples from EMI.
On the post: Australia The Latest To Look At Having Artists Paid Multiple Times For The Same Work
Concept of Ownership
Did they ever learn the hard way.
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