Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Do they have any say in the matter now that she's been found guilty? In this country, once a court has set a fine, it's the court system which enforces payment, not the original plaintiff.
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Don't know... but the RIAA was obviously pulling the strings on this case, so if a fine "magically" gets reduced somewhere, we'll know who was responsible for it.
I think I've figured out the real impact of this case. The decision was based on the fact that the prosecution couldn't
absolutely prove that Thomas did the deed... however, it was her computer, with her account, in her house, and therefore she as the owner of the household was ultimately responsible. For $220,000. Coincidentally, a figure pretty close to the average price of a home in America.
Who do you think is going to get that message?
Parents. Every one that hears about this is going to storm into their child's room and say, "I'm not going to lose this house because of your illegally sharing files! I want to see what's on your PC right now, and you're removing all file-sharing software,
or else!" So the RIAA manages to appoint finance-fearing parents as their watchdogs, saving them the trouble of chasing after kids.
And the adult file-sharers now have a dollar figure (or a concept--a second mortgage) to refer to, if they get fingered, which will guarantee that in 90% of cases their lives will be ruined. Those who have more than 3 brain cells to rub together will severely curb their file-sharing activities.