Quote:
Originally Posted by calvin-c
And why shouldn't they sue individuals? The only argument I can think of is that individuals usually don't have the resources to stand up to the RIAA (or whoever's) lawyers-and that can be where (in the US) the ACLU or EFF can help. Maybe-first we need to find some individuals who are being sued who are actually innocent, and that's pretty hard.
One legislative change I'd like to see made is laying more 'guilt' on those who share the illegal copies than on those who simply download them. I'm not sure if that would mean de-criminalizing downloading or simply establishing different penalties. But this is a decision I'm glad to see as it's been my long-standing contention that if the RIAA, etc wants to stop piracy then they need to go after the pirates-not people who (as an example) created the Internet (or swap meets, or whatever) in which the pirates operate.
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I don't really have a problem with fining the downloaders. My problem is with the history of the RIAA's bloodthirsty suits and the size of the damages, both claimed and awarded.
Authors and musicians rights to their work needs to be protected as does the publishers',labels' retailers' and consumers. This needs to be done in a balanced way that assists all involved, not just the megacorporations in the middle.