[yahoo] Music industry 'nails UK pirates'

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More than 20 internet users in the UK have collectively paid £50,000 out of court for illegally sharing music online. The discussion highlights concerns over the disproportionate fines imposed on individuals compared to the actual damages caused by their actions. Critics argue that the financial penalties often exceed the value of the songs illegally downloaded, questioning the fairness of such legal actions. The conversation also touches on the rationale behind illegal downloading, suggesting that if the cost of being caught is low relative to the fines, individuals may be incentivized to continue this behavior. Additionally, there is speculation about the potential for jail time for offenders, although no specific cases are mentioned.
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More than 20 UK internet users pay a total of £50,000 out of court for illegally sharing songs on the web.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/click/rss/0.91/public/-/1/hi/entertainment/music/4318765.stm"
 
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It just doesn't make sense that people are forced to pay more money than the damages that they caused. But I think the RIAA is going to stop suing people.
 
RiseAgainst said:
It just doesn't make sense that people are forced to pay more money than the damages that they caused.

Now I hate the RIAA as much as anyone, but I have to disagree. If the probability of being caught is less than 100%, and the worst-case payment is equal to the total price of the products taken, then taking products is always the dominant strategy vs. buying. If the worst-case payment is twice as much, taking products is only rational if the probability of being caught is less than 0.5 (assuming risk neutrality). Extrapolate as needed.
 
CRGreathouse said:
Now I hate the RIAA as much as anyone, but I have to disagree. If the probability of being caught is less than 100%, and the worst-case payment is equal to the total price of the products taken, then taking products is always the dominant strategy vs. buying. If the worst-case payment is twice as much, taking products is only rational if the probability of being caught is less than 0.5 (assuming risk neutrality). Extrapolate as needed.

But if you download one song illegally that costs $.99 on some website you could still be sued for thousands of dollars when you really stole something that costs $.99.
 
true but there is also court costs and then 99.9999% of the time people don't stop at downloading one song
 
I wonder if anyone got jail time for this.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if they did
 

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