RIAA BOSS WILL "MAKE AN
EXAMPLE" OUT OF A LITTLE GIRL
by Ben Radstein, staff reporter
You may have heard or read about the RIAA suing 261 file traders, but
you may not know the really sick part of this story. One of the people the
recording industry are calling pirates is a
twelve year old girl named Brianna LaHara. Her mother, Sylvia Torres, said
that the lawsuit came as a total shock. "My daughter was on the verge of tears when she found out about
this." She also pointed out that the family had paid a $29.99 service charge
for Kazaa, the download service they had been using. "If you're paying for it, you're not stealing
it,'' said Torres. "It's not like we were doing anything illegal. This is a 12-year-old girl, for crying out loud."
She also said that they usually just listen to songs without recording them. "There's a lot of music there, but we just listen to it and let it
go." Brianna and the others sued yesterday under federal copyright law could face penalties of up to $150,000 per
song.
Here is some more information about little Brianna. She is an
honors student who lives with her single mother, and nine-year old little
brother in a New York City Housing Authority apartment. Clearly, this family is
not a money tree for the recording cartel to shake. Unlike the fat cats in the
multi-billion dollar recording industry, they are poor. Just what do the RIAA
hope to gain by attacking such people? They know that you won't win friends by
bullying children, don't they? Are they oblivious to the idea that this will
make their enemies multiply? I sought out comments from them.
I am a little ashamed to admit that I pretended to buddy up to
RIAA President Cary Sherman in
the hope that it would get him to speak freely. Once he though I
was on his side, he had this to say. "We are going to make an example
out of that little miscreant. Nobody rides for free.
We own the music. She stole the music. She
will have to pay the piper now! Pretty soon, she will be in a reform school, her
mother in prison, and the little boy in a foster home where maybe they will
teach him to respect property. Playing the heavy and using litigation gives me a
hard-on!" He then said, "This is all off the record, right?" I
said that I could promise no such thing, as I was seeking comments for a news
story. He then angrily snapped, "Well, you are all just a bunch of snakes,
aren't you?" I retorted that I had been called worse things by better
people, and he hung up the phone.
UPDATE: Brianna's mother has
settled out of court for $2000. She and Brianna were required to make a
public apology. That's $2000 out of the mouths of babies! Hope you like denying
food, clothing and shelter to the poor over lousy pop music, Mr. Sherman!