Record companies suing Limewire for $75,000,000,000,000.00

[Stillwater]

You read the title correctly. The RIAA is supporting 13 record companies in their attempt to sue Limewire, a peer-to-peer file distribution service, for 75 trillion dollars. That is about 1.5 times the value of the entire world's GDP over an entire year. Some say that is more money than even exists in the entire world. This sum was arrived at by multiplying the $150 maximum infringment penalty for an individual download times the total number of instances a song was downloaded across all time on limewire.

While the record companies may have a claim of some kind, I think this is great evidence that production companies are out of touch with reality, and that the RIAA has proven itself to be an absurd organization. I think this is also evidence that copyright law needs to be revised to reflect the real-world situation today. We have laws on the book that related to theft and reproduction of printed media in the 19th century now protecting copyright of digital media that can be copied as data with physical copy anywhere in the loop; the laws don't reflect reality or equity anymore, and they don't apply in the same way to contemporary issues. The way music is transmitted and experienced in our culture is not analogous to previous forms of media, and we clearly need to envision modern methods of ensuring that the creators and distributers are justly compensated, while taking note of the part music and digital copies play in our culture.


http://www.geekosystem.com/limewire-sued-75-trillion/

[blis]

They shouldnt get a penny in my opinion. It's not limewire's fault if people use it for illegal purposes.

That's like suing microsoft for all the cd's that have been ripped with media player. Or suing the inventors of mp3 for all the cd's ever ripped.

[astraladdict]

I found this out the hard way, a month ago maybe i wanted to get separate tracks to shuffle too, so i downloaded frostwire. Only every fucken track i downloaded was an ad for some limewire BS

~astraladdict

[Chris J.]

I think this is also evidence that copyright law needs to be revised to reflect the real-world situation today.

They are revising copyright laws.

[personalreality]

i'll stick too good old fashioned torrents and mediafire/rapidshare/etc. searches, thank you.

[astraladdict]

i'll stick too good old fashioned torrents and mediafire/rapidshare/etc. searches, thank you.

Word