Below is a running tally (to be regularly updated) of file traders taken to either criminal or civil court by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) for facilitating file trading on the Internet. The first six on this list actually ran small services. In the future, expect to see mostly those who just swap files using one of the leading P2P programs like KaZaa.
|
Name |
Age | Penalty Faced | Sentence or Settlement |
| 22 | Three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for trading 300 song files. | Plead guilty. Given two years probation & $25,000 fine. United States Attorney Kristine Olson applauded the cooperative efforts of the FBI, the Oregon State Police, the University of Oregon, the Software Information Industry Association, the Business Software Alliance, the Motion Picture Association, the Interactive Digital Software Association, and the Recording Industry Association of America for their assistance during the investigation. |
| 19 | Five Years in Prison and a $250,000 fine for trading 10,600 song files. | He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of "unlawful advertisement or offer to distribute sound recordings." (Note: not "copyright infringement or facilitation thereof."). Two years "unsupervised and deferred probation" and a $5,000 fine. |
| 18 | Record industry sued four in civil court for $3 Billion, Peng for running a file trade service on the Princeton University campus network | "I don't believe I did anything wrong," said Peng shortly after he agreed to a $15,000 settlement with the record industry on May 1st 2001. Why settle? Peng's legal fees for just a week in court would have run more. A week earlier a ruling threw out piracy charges against Morpheus/Grokster. The ruling set a precedent that could have had the suit thrown out, so the record industry settled quickly. Peng took the deal of a semester's tuition and no admission of wrongdoing, versus paying much more to have the case thrown out - with no guarantee that it would be thrown out. |
| Record industry sued four in civil court for $3 Billion, Sherman for running a file trade service on the Renselear Polytechnic campus network. | Agreed to a $17,500 settlement and no admission of wrongdoing. |
| 19 | Record industry sued four in civil court for $3 Billion, Jordan for running a file trade service on the Rensselaer Polytechnic campus network. | Agreed to a $12,000 settlement and no admission of wrong-doing. From USA Today: "...has spent the past few summers working at a pet shop, earning $12,000 to help pay for his $38,000 annual tuition and board. That money will now go to the RIAA". |
| 21 | Record industry sued four in civil court for $3 Billion, Nievelt for running a file trade service on the Michigan Tech. campus network. | Agreed to a $15,000 settlement and no admission of wrong-doing. from USA Today: "Ohio State law professor Peter Swire says the students would have a stronger case if they hadn't posted their own MP3 files for sharing. "If it's a plain search engine, they're offered lots of protection," he says. "To post MP3s puts them at risk." |
| 21 | Accused under the Australian Copyright Act of running a Napster-like website and charged with Internet piracy. If found guilty, the student may face up to five years in jail or a $60,500 fine per infringement. | Copped a plea, to end the ordeal, pleading guilty for reduced charges. Given 200 hours of community service. |
| 20 | Accused under the Australian Copyright Act of running a Napster-like website and charged with Internet piracy. If found guilty, the student may face up to five years in jail or a $60,500 fine per infringement. | Copped a plea, to end the ordeal, pleading guilty for reduced charges. Given an 18-month suspended sentence and 200 hours of community service. |
| 20 | Accused under the Australian Copyright Act of running a Napster-like website and charged with Internet piracy. If found guilty, the student may face up to five years in jail or a $60,500 fine per infringement. | Copped a plea, to end the ordeal, pleading guilty for reduced charges. Given an 18-month suspended sentence and $5,000 fine |
| 12 | Brianna was among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Brianna is the first identified child sued by the RIAA.This caused a public relations backlash for the industry who quickly settled with her mother $2,000. |
| 20 | Lorraine was among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Settled for $2500. "If I knew the rest of my life wouldn't be ruined and that I wouldn't have this huge financial thing hanging over my head, I'd stand up to them," Lorraine Sullivan told us exclusively. "But I'm terrified of bankruptcy. How could I, an already in debt college student, possibly go up against a multi-billion-dollar international industry and survive?" |
| 50 | School bus driver from San Francisco are was among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Pending |
| Peter was among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Pending |
| Patrick was among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Pending. "I probably downloaded 50 or 60 songs myself," said Patrick Little, a food merchandiser from Daly City and father of twin 15-year-old girls. "It's my daughters who are the ones who are really into it. According to the SFGate article "Attorneys specializing in copyright law said that it's unclear whether parents can be held liable for their children's use of their Internet service accounts". |
|
Maryam
Fattahi Raymond Maalouf, Lynette Neuman |
Maryam and the rest constitue the 18 individuals in the San Francisco bay area who were among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Pending |
| A bookkeeper in Redwood City, CA is among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Pending |
| 39 | Among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Pending |
| 71 | Retiree in Texas denies file trading, but was among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Pending |
| Yale professor among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Pending |
| 23 | Single mother of two girls among 261 people sued for file trading by the RIAA in their attempt to stem file trading through fear of civil suit. The record lobby is looking for $150,000 per song. | Pending |
| 66 | Boston area computer novice among 261 sued despite the fact she never downloaded a song let alone used KaZaa as claimed by the RIAA. Turns out she coudn't use KaZaa, her computer is a Mac and KaZaa is unavailable for the Mac. | A case of mistaken identity, but the record industry won't admit it despite the obvious error. The RIAA dropped the case and made this comment, "Please note, however, that we will continue our review of the issues you raised and we reserve the right to refile the complaint against Mrs. Ward if and when circumstances warrant". |
| California resident named in second round of RIAA Lawsuits. This time the RIAA is asking for a settlement prior to the actual suit. | Fighting RIAA suit, refusing to settle. |
| 54 | Denver resident named in second round of RIAA Lawsuits. This time the RIAA is asking for a settlement prior to the actual suit. | Claiming the RIAA has accused her falsely, Janet has decided to not settle. She told The Denver Post, "I am sure that a gray-haired, middle-aged woman going to court to defend herself from charges that she downloaded music by a band called Incubus is going to get a laugh." |
| 15 | Teenager from Tacoma Washington sued for $850,000 | Like the others, Megan's family has been offered a settlement far below the cost of legal fees, because they know they will be forced take it. |
The Nomad
Zen can be ordered from Amazon.sued
