The RIAA is so clueless. They should raise it to a gagillion dollars. That will scare people.

you understand that if she went around PUNCHING those 24 artists in the face instead of having their songs in an open folder, she still would not have a $2M judgment against her.

The R.I.A.A. WILL be dismantled.

Donte Stallworth (Cleveland Browns receiver) gets 30 days in jail for running someone over and killing them while drunk (30 days for a football star will hardly even matter for someone with his financial situation) but this mother of 4 gets a $2 million dollar fine for essentially nothing? Insane.

Total shit everyone downloads, this is a mother who is raising her children. 2 million thats fucking insane why do they do this shit to us? Why?

Look, I understand downloading music is wrong, but c’mon, $1.93 MILLION for 24 songs? A double album? That’s like getting the death penalty for slapping somebody in the face. I wonder what kind of fine I would have to pay if I stole a cd of the White Album from a department store. Think about it. Seriously. Fuck the RIAA.

wow! first this won’t stop anyone from downloading!

And how could anyone sleep at night knowing they just fucked over a mother of four for doing something that millions of Americans do!

That’s like giving someone a life sentence for an incomplete stop at a stop sign…. just to make a fucking point!

I guarantee that if all the musicians were asked they wouldn’t press charges!

bullshit!

What kind of Ass Clowns would even render such a ridiculous decision. I can’t believe to even think 18k is even sensible. This whole thing is bullshit

Don’t do the crime if you cant do the time. It’s a very excessive fine and should be lowered, but at the same time, she should be made an example of. She had 2 trials and was found guilty. You may not like the justice system in this country, but anyone who ILLEGALLY downloads music is breaking the law, and pretty much every one of them knows they’re breaking the law.

Anyone who is so arrogant and defiant needs to be the next one to get nailed to the wall, because you’d deserve it. Buy your music instead of stealing it and you wont have a thing to worry about. Cant afford to buy it? Get a job or simply do without, but no matter how unfair you think the RIAA is, you’re still wrong, and it still doesn’t give you the right to steal without paying the price.

give me a fuckin break. More people intelligently ilegally download whole discographies off of bittorrent and can barely be caught. this is nonsense… Tom Petty realized that shit was crazy back in the 80’s w/ music retail prices… in the days of no internet and vinyl-to-cassette tape bootlegging (OH NO!). I bet you if most average people could afford to buy the music… and go see their favorite musicians in concert.. they would. But, becasue they can’t, and a broken system is still in place… big wheel keep on turnin’.

lmao @ “ev”’s post. right on

“busted” is retarded… why the f*ck are you protecting a corporate company that has monopolized a media and taken control of musicians’s and artists’s work…what have they done to deserve the right to cotrol the true artist? why should RIAA and music companys be in charge of whether an artists’ music is ILLEGALLY downloaded? a green day song was also downloaded… think they care their music was illegally downloaded? Richard Marx doesnt think his song is worth 80,000 dollars…FUCK THE RIAA…

RIAA = GREEDY BASTARDS. You are one example of why America is so fucked up.

Very Draconian.

The judges decision of 1.93 million is just ridiculous. This poor lady deserves a slap on the wrist not a life sentence. There is no way a normal salaried person could ever pay that while still living a normal life. Awwwww she stole 24 songs, yea like its that bad that the record company has to ruin her life!!! Lesson learned leave her alone now.

That’s about $80,0000 per song…

1. There should be a fine.
2. It should be closer to $8 dollars per song.
3. This does not teach America that downloading is wrong.
4. It teaches them that the RIAA is insane.
5. Most revenue comes from concerts and advertisements. Any musician would side with the mother.

i think we should take it a step further. if they can fine us 2 mil and get away with it then the legal system is the criminal and we need to make it pay for its crimes. leave it up to you how that works out. i know what comes to my mind.

Downloading illegally is wrong, but $1.92 million?!?!?!?!?! Like, seriously?!?!?! They’re not “setting an example”, they’re merely using this as an excuse to stuff their already fat wallets! Artists DO NOT receive a significant amount of money from record sales, they pay their bills through touring and scoring endorsement deals with companies. The rise of the internet is karma for the RIAA. For years, they’ve been able to put a stranglehold on the creative freedom of artists and get away with it. Why do you think crappy bands and artists are able to score #1 Billboard singles mean while artists 100 times better than them can’t get past a couple of gigs at a coffeehouse? Watch the documentary “Electric Purgatory: The Fate Of The Black Rocker” and you’ll see what low-down, dirty snakes record execs really are. They won’t sign black rock bands because according to their marketing logic, a black artist can only have success as a rapper or R&B singer, NOT as a rock star. Do you know how many great bands and artists are out there who aren’t given a chance because they don’t fit the marketable mold? You can thank the RIAA for that.

Do any of you work for free? Do you give your time and abilities away for no charge every day? No? Why the hell not? You want these artists to do it, but theres no fucking way you’d do it yourself. You could give away your time and your skills to anybody who wants them, and to support yourself, you could work part time at Taco Bell to pay your bills. Sounds good to me, and I know all those people you’d be helping out with free services would appreciate it. After all, they deserve it, just like you deserve free music…right?

What a bunch of self-serving jagoffs you guys are. Never saw such a sense of entitlement in my life. If you want to get paid like a recording artist, take some fucking lessons and stop wasting time crying and whining about some stupid bitch who got caught stealing.

Most recording artists struggle, and do not make enough off of recording, tours or endorsements to sustain themselves.

Unfortunately, the RIAA’s approach is without merit. Even if she walks away without a fine at all in the end, her legal expenses have probably ruined her financially.

Busted – You really are oblivious to where a musician’s income mostly comes from. The RIAA is doing this to keep up payments on THEIR own Benz and Bimmers.

Friggin Tommy Noble – excellent point.

I know where a musicians income mostly comes from, thief. However, they also draw income from selling their music, whether it be a CD or a paid download. If they intended their music to be free, it wouldn’t cost a fucking dime in the stores, would it? They would simply give it away and tour for their money.

Nice cop-out, and nice attempt to justify stealing music. If it was meant to be free, it would be free. It has nothing to do with what the RIAA does or doesn’t do. Thats just a lame ass excuse by people who are too ignorant to understand economics and business. Bands are in it for the money, just like everyone else who holds down a job. I dont know about you, but I expect to be paid for my work, and fuck anyone who thinks otherwise.

You allnever had a VCR or Tape Recorder have you.Growing up where you could save anything of a tv or another video cassette or friends making tapes of their favorite music all day long evenon cd’s. Nowwhat werejust suppost to quit. Frag-off you dayum pot head druggies who only sing crappy 2 beat music anyways.

The music executives can’t afford to pay their million dollar mortgages if you keep stealing music! Busted, artist make CENTS per album.. CENTS.. They do not make a significant amount of money from album sales. The labels make all the money. Artists make money from touring douche bag. Do some research before you try to act like you know what you are talking about.

Screw the RIAA, this is abosutely retarded. In Canada downloading music was completely LEGAL until recently. So I hate when people try to compare downloading a song, to stealing a physical object.
They are not the same thing, steal physical objects would never be legal.

…Except Busted was actually right. The band could make nothing, ZERO dollars off of album sales and 100% profits could go to agents, but agents are the people that organize the concerts and shows and make the shirts and merchandise and organize all the events that allow the artist to obtain income through other means. If you’re not supporting the label, the artist will be dropped, and self representation is incredibly difficult.