RIAA settles with 12-year-old honors student

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 17:08:32 -0700
> From: "Wong, Brian" <brianwong () dwt com>
> Subject: RIAA settles with 12-year-old honors student
> To: "David J. Farber (dave () farber net)" <dave () farber net>
>
>
> Dave, apparently the RIAA decided that taking the girl's lunch money was 
> the best resolution to this public relations problem.  Or, even worse, the 
> RIAA doesn't see it as a public relations problem.
>
> - Brian -
>
> RIAA settles with 12-year-old girl
>
> By 
> <mailto:jborland () cnet com?subject=FEEDBACK:RIAA%20settles%20with%2012-year-old%20girl>John 
> Borland
> Staff Writer, CNET News.com
> September 9, 2003, 4:05 PM PT
>
> Barely 24 hours after suing alleged file swappers around the United 
> States, the recording industry has settled its first, agreeing to drop its 
> case against a 12-year-old New York girl in exchange for $2,000.
>
> The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) 
> <http://news.com.com/2009-1032-5073343.html?tag=nl>filed 261 lawsuits 
> Monday against computer users it said were exclusively "egregious" file 
> swappers. One of the targets wound up being Brianna Lahara, who was 
> identified by the New York Post as a 12-year-old honors student who lives 
> in a New York City Housing Authority apartment.
>
> The trade group said Tuesday that it had agreed to settle with the 
> preteen's mother for a sum considerably lower than previous settlement 
> arrangements.
>
> "We understand now that file sharing the music was illegal," Sylvia 
> Torres, Brianna's mother, said in a statement. "You can be sure Brianna 
> won't be doing it anymore."
>
> The quick settlement points both to the public relations dangers of the 
> RIAA's shotgun lawsuit approach and to its simultaneous effectiveness. 
> Other sympathetic defendants are likely to emerge, but the group is 
> setting a fast precedent of pushing people toward settlement.
>
> "We're trying to send a strong message that you are not anonymous when you 
> participate in peer-to-peer file sharing and that the illegal distribution 
> of copyrighted music has consequences," RIAA chief executive Mitch Bainwol 
> said in a statement. "And as this case illustrates, parents need to be 
> aware of what their children are doing on their computers."
>
> The RIAA had previously 
> <http://news.com.com/2100-1027-999332.html?tag=nl>settled with four 
> college students sued in April for between $12,000 and $17,000. The group 
> said Monday that it had already reached agreements with some of the latest 
> round of defendants to settle for about $3,000, but that future agreements 
> would likely carry a higher price tag.
>
> <http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5073717.html?tag=lh>http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5073717.html?tag=lh 

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