Meet John Doe: Sued file sharer tells us his sad story

March 12, 2005

DamnedIfIknow used our news submit to tell us "The RIAA is not eager to go to trial, according to Lamy. "We would prefer to settle sooner rather than later. . . . We make numerous attempts to engage downloaders throughout the process." - Yup, SETTLE, that about sums it up."

For me, the experience of settling with the RIAA was almost painless'”except for the thousands I agreed to pay. Dragging my "shared" folder to the trash icon, promising not to download anymore, and acknowledging that illegal downloading is wrongful were easy enough. I happened to know an intellectual-property lawyer who agreed to handle the negotiations pro bono. He was the one who called the RIAA settlement center number and spoke not to a lawyer, but to a staffer empowered and trained to negotiate. "It feels like they"re doing a volume business," my lawyer told me.

All I can say is: Please don't feed the bears! The laws don't seem fair but, we don't have to knowingly break them. If we do and get caught, then pay the man and shut up already. I think the attitude of this guys friend, is pretty typical when you are not in the spotlight: "...but even my close friends
haven't been scared off. One scoffed at my settlement, and said that if she were
sued, she'd fight the RIAA in court. For her, downloading is "civil disobedience" in protest against the legal digital music systems that just don't have all the music she wants." Oh would I love to see someone go through with such a brave statement. I just hope they have plenty of money when it comes time to pay the man.

In the meantime, this article from the EFF is still good reading for those that continue to fileshare and would like to minimze their risk. It's called: How to not get sued by the RIAA and it also offers links to help them find funding to legalize file sharing. This would be the ultimate victory! A system where we could share and the copyright holders were paid.

Source: The Village Voice