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Texas Tech Student Annoys RIAA; Demands Trialby George Ziemann -- October 24, 2008 The good news -- Whitney Harper, a 20-year-old majoring in public relations at Texas Tech, was sued by the RIAA and is demanding a trial instead of paying the settlement. The bad news -- It's not because she has a clue. The back story is that Whitney downloaded music from Kazaa when she was in the 14-16 age bracket. She forgot about it, went to college with the share folder still open, and last year her parents were sued by the RIAA. Whitney admitted being the downloader, but is declining to pay the settlement. She has asked for a jury trial. Naturally, this pisses off the RIAA. Keeping in mind that they're suing someone for downloading pop songs 5 or 6 years ago, I am highly amused by by the RIAA's statement that, "...it's disappointing that the defendant is apparently choosing to drag this out." There are several solid arguments against an RIAA case. Quoted at Wired, Ms. Harper seems blissfully unaware of a single one of them. "I think it is wrong for them to sue me. I'm hoping I can win and don't have to pay anything." She's relying on the "I'm a complete idiot" defense. "I think it is morally wrong to sue me for something I did that long ago. That it was being distributed to all of cyberspace, I didn't have an understanding of that at all... I would do homework on that computer and listen to music. I didn't know I was stealing or distributing it. I thought I was like listening to MTV on the internet... I had no idea I was doing anything wrong. I knew I was listening to music. I didn't have an understanding of file sharing." Now she thinks downloading "is morally wrong for people that know what they are doing. I would not do it now. I would never do it. I don't steal from people. I'm not a bad person." She still doesn't have an understanding. I have two nieces that live in Lubbock and graduated from Texas Tech, one just last spring. When we visited last summer, they didn't have a clue, either. Their entire neighborhood seemed to have open wireless connections. And yet they don't understand all of that cyberspace stuff. If only there were somewhere in the Lubbock area one could go to get educated about technology... maybe some sort of school... Of course, I'm being sarcastic, but the technical colleges received the first lawsuits in 2003. The RIAA has no rocket scientists on staff, and the "tech" people they do have don't seem particularly bright. Five years later, the students are still using the idiot defense, and they think downloading is "morally wrong." What? They don't have MySpace in Texas?? First get a clue, then "get your guns up." Otherwise, the RIAA is gonna win this one. Later that same day... As predicted, the RIAA won the case. Harper won't get a trial. The only thing she still has going for her is that the judge determined that "making available" is a violation of copyright law, despite the prevailing legal opinion (and case law) which specifically indicates that proof of distribution is required. Except in Texas. Evidentally, they have a different set of copyright laws than the rest of the country. |
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