We haven’t got the guts to go after real pirates off the coast of Malaysia, but we can go after old men and their grandsons. We’re tough.
JS Online: Movie downloads could cost Racine man up to $600,000 — This is rich. Here, in a nutshell, is everything that is wrong with the world. The MPAA must be ever so proud of itself. Good work boys. Go get ‘em.
A Racine man who says he doesn’t even like watching movies, let alone copying them off the Internet, is being sued by the film industry for copyright infringement after his 13-year-old grandson downloaded four movies on their home computer.
The Motion Picture Association of America, on behalf of three major Hollywood studios, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Fred Lawrence, a 67-year-old retiree. The suit seeks as much as $600,000 in damages for downloading four movies over iMesh, an Internet file-sharing service.
The lawsuit comes after Lawrence, a former employee of Snap-on Inc. and seasonal worker for the City of Racine, refused a March offer to settle the matter by paying $4,000.
“First of all, like I say, I guess I’d have to plead being naive about the whole thing,” said Lawrence. He said his grandson, then 12, downloaded “The Incredibles,” “I, Robot,” “The Grudge,” and “The Forgotten” in December, not knowing it was illegal.
Lawrence said his grandson downloaded the movies out of curiosity. The family already owned three of the four titles on DVD, and his grandson deleted the computer files immediately, he said.
Found by Mad Dog mike
No of course not, just the right to be treated fairly and pay a penalty that fits the crime, rather than some entertainment exec’s idea of imagined damages or losses. And the right not to be bullied out of your lifes savings over it. Also to lesson the strangle hold the entertainment industry wants to force on all of us who wish for fair use and the ability to make copies for either backup or compatability with other forms of media. I am not advocating piracy at least not for profit, but I feel one should be able to make a backup or place a copy on a laptop or yes give a copy to a friend rather than let them borrow your master copy. This has been going on for decades in one form or another ever since recordable media has been conceived and the movie and recording industry has always thrived regardless it is no different today. At lest let the punishment fit the crime. Fine him $100 it is far more value than the avi files are worth. America needs to revamp it’s legal system so that the average Joe has some protection from Lawyers with deep pockets wanting to set an example.