U.S. District Judge Lowers Downloading Fine…

Tuesday, August, 12, 2008 by Mel Phillips.

Chalk this victory up for the little guy or girl in this case as 16-year old Whitney Harper whose downloading fine, originally priced at $750 per song for the 37 songs she illegally downloaded was reduced to $200 per song.  U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez lowered the fine apparently believing that she had no idea she was accessing copyrighted material.  Could this be a precedent setting court decision in an era when copyright lawsuits from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) can reach as astronomically high as $30,000 per song???

A MediaSentry investigation found that Whitney was distributing 544 audio files via a “shared” folder on her computer.  Whitney claimed that she didn’t realize that they were being downloaded to her computer or shared with others.  Do I believe this?  Of course not - but the judge did and that’s all that counts…

With downloading and royalty fines still in dispute and discussion there will be many different court decisions based on the discretion of the presiding judge with plenty more to come - get used to it.  FYI: a person is not required to download a song completely in order for it to constitute copyright infringement.  That’s why people are paying for ringtones…

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1877] Phonograph sighting: Thomas Edison invents the phonograph and makes the 1st sound recording. Clive Davis signs the Tom Edison Band to a longterm contract…
2. 1960] Looking for an echo: The first balloon satellite, Echo 1, is launched by the U.S…
3. 1969] For Sale…SOLD: The Boston Celtics are sold for $6 million. The highest price for an NBA franchise at the time…
4. 1977] O Solo Mio:  The space shuttle Enterprise passes its first solo flight test by taking off atop a Boeing 747, separating and then touching down in the Mojave Desert…
5. 1985] Disaster in the air: A crippled Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashes into a mountain, killing 520…
6. 1994] Strike 3 - You’re out: Major league baseball players go on strike  rather than allow team owners to limit their salaries. The strike lasts 232 days, cancelling the World Series for the 1st time in 90 years. Still a good baseball trivia question - who won the 1994 World Series? - no one!!!
7. 1998] Justice served: Swiss banks  agreed to pay $1.25 billion as restitution to Holocaust survivors to settle claims for their assets…
8. 2000]  Losing a nuke sub:  The Russian nuclear sub Kursk and its 118-man crew are lost in the Barents Sea during naval exercises…
9. 2004] “I am a gay American”: New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey  announces his resignation and acknowledges that he had an extramarital affair with a man. The McGreevey’s just settled their divorce…
10. 2007] ‘Happy Trails’: Talk-Show host and game show creator (”Wheel Of Fortune”, “Jeopardy”) Merv Griffin  dies from prostate cancer at 82…

Music Memories:

• 1967] Making their debut: Fleetwood Mac make their stage debut in Great Britain at the Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival…

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday“:

Pete Sampras (37), Peter Krause (43), Suzanne Vega (49), Mark Knopfler (59), Sam Rosen (61), George Hamilton (69) and Charlie O’Donnell (76) (the first WOR-FM morning man and “American Bandstand” announcer)…
Happy Anniversary Diane…

Timeline Countdown: 20 days until Labor Day and 23 days until the NFL opener (Washington @ NYG)…

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