Grandpa sued over grandson's downloading!!!

[abdulmueid]

Ok, we all know that MPAA, RIAA and the whole bunch of anti-piracy organizations have been bullying around for a while. It might not be something new but this time it's a poor old grandpa that's being targeted for the stuff, "movies" to be specific, that his 12 years old grandson downloaded on his PC using iMesh. I mean this is bull-dust (atleast sh*t is worth something), and they want poor old grandpa to pay $600,000... INSANE!

Read full story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051102/ap_on_hi_te/movie_downloads

 

[Morph]

out of order if you ask me

 

[spy69]

Thats out of line. The grandpa didnt do it. The grandson is too young to understand. I really hope they will drop it.

 

[Humdizzy]

The RIAA is trying to set an example, but they are just making themselves look bad.

 

[Morph]

SkapeGoating people like this is not fair

 

[vip-ip]

Depending on which side you look at, it could be good or bad: the grandpa didn't do it, but on the other had MPAA has to get its money somewhere. Setting an example like this is not fair, but it shows definitely that you do it - you're going to get punished, even if you're 12 (or 67). Good way to publicize how serious MPAA is about this.

 

[commes]

how is some one thats living off of pension suppose to ;pay for that?i meen thats just not fair

 

[brewmonkey]

Complete BS. How pathetic are they to go after them over 4 movies. Meanwhile there are people out there who have entire HDD filled with movies.

 

[Rom]

This is just crazy... Many people have illegal movies... but why did they sue this innocent Grandpa?

 

[Andromeda]

Oh sh**! That sucks for an old man...

 

[Jon_]

Ouch. Like the article said, they may lose millions of dollars off of internet downloading, but it is very unfair to that poor ol' man.

 

[def1]

I hate these types of things. I mean it wasnt the grandfathers fault and a 12 year old hardly knows much about the music business

 

[abdulmueid]

Have a look at it from this point of view: networks like iMesh, Gnutella, etc are PUBLIC NETWORKS where these organizations can monitor a users activities if they wish so, now how about people that run a PRIVATE http or ftp server to share files? Eversince Riaa/Mpaa crap started to build up, the number of private servers is increasing. If you've ever been on a no-domain ip-based filesharing site/server you'll know what I am talking about. These organizations cant shut down the whole internet, it's practically impossible! If I run a server to share a Terabyte of illegal crap, no one would ever know except my ISP which i'm sure wont mind because I am a paying customer.
So yeah, RIAA/MPAA must either leave it or live with it.

 

[bmx1king]

i understand what they want to do.. but comon!!

this is just stupid that they would do this to an old man

 

[.X.]

This is why there are so many issues that come up regarding minors on the internet making transactions,Grandpas out 600K,The 12 year old isn't held responable for actions.So grandpa automatically becomes the responsable party.I would say perhaps more parenting should have been involved,But i will assume grandpa has no idea about the internet.It's simple for a minor to check a box saying "Yes" They are 18 or over,This is where action should be taken,If a minor does that,They should be held completly responsable for thier actions without penalty to the parent,after all,they will have to work someday,and 600K in debt at 12 yearsold,he would have a long life lesson with money being takin from his pay check monthly for the rest of his life to pay the 600K debt.Truly sad imo

 

[LeetPCUser]

They want to show they are ruthless, even to old people. They will probably settle for like $20k, but they want to get the attention of the public!

 

[srijit]

why pick on grandpa. in most asian countries, you can get these movies and also software off the roadside :p
also saw this point made at neowin. can anyone expand on this

He already owned three out of four on DVD

I would like to see the outcome of the case if he had owned all of them, because:

Are you paying for the DVD itself?

or

Are you paying for a license to see the movie?

• If they say that it's for the DVD itself, then it would set a benchmark to make it legal for CD Ripping, DeCSS, etc, because they would say that we own the physical media.
• If they say that we are paying for a license to see the movie, then downloading the movie for use on another medium is not illegal, because it was already licensed.

so what do you all think? i think that there is a very valid point in this. if i buy a DVD, what am i buying? is it like buying a lease/rent as is the case with MS Windows? ( cos u dont own ur copy of MS Windows, at least thats what the EULA says )

 

[lilgee]

The young kid didnt know it wasnt legal and so they gonna sue tha grandpa. That is just messed up 4 sure.

 

[movingconcierge]

Caution: Analogy ahead--->

<Analogy> That is the same logic as jailing a parent for the crimes of a juvenile. The law can't do that as evidenced by the constant gang crimes of young members. </Analogy>

Most of the time, kids under a certain age are not considered to have the proper neurological function to know the difference between right and wrong. However, in Hollywood, those functions are completely diminished. So I guess it is only fitting to say a 12 year old has the brain function similar to that of what Hollywood considers a normal adult.

This is a fear tactic. If "Hollywood" is able to bully this guy into bankruptcy in his golden years, it will seriously effect how I spend my entertainment dollars; i.e. they will not go to Hollywood. I would encourage others to consider the same type of boycott.

They [Hollywood] turn out crap movie after crap movie, cannot even have two original ideas in a row, and then want to place such a high value on the that product. It's arrogant and desperate at the same time. I mean when was the last time you were really “wowed” by the big screen? How many times has that winning idea been plagiarized and beaten into the ground? How about all of the “Remakes” that are appearing. There is no creativity. The only creativity in Hollywood anymore is in the legal department.

Viva independent films distributed on the internet