Posted by Ablang on 03/30/06 06:28

Your kid steals music, you could pay

Your teenager might never think of shoplifting a music CD. But untold
thousands of kids are downloading music from so-called peer-to-peer
music services -- the digital equivalent of shoplifting.
- advertisement -

If a stroll through your computer's history reveals visits to sites
such as Grokster, Kazaa and LimeWire, chances are the apple of your
eye is downloading music illegally. And you could be liable for any
infringement of music copyrights that occurs on your computer.

The Recording Industry Association of America has grown increasingly
aggressive in suing individual consumers who are involved in illegally
distributing copyrighted music. In fact, in late November the
association announced that it had sued 754 consumers, including
computer network users at 12 colleges, including Boston University,
New York University, University of California at Berkeley and Michigan
State University.

Penalties are especially severe for file sharers who seek to profit
from illegal downloads. They can get up to five years in prison and
$250,000 in fines. Even file sharers who don't profit from their
activities can be punished criminally with up to three years in prison
and $250,000 in fines; and civil liability for damages ranging up to
$150,000 per infringement (per song).

If you are wondering which digital music player to buy, see the main
story, "Getting in tune with digital music services" and the
side-by-side comparison in the sidebar "Comparing the best-selling
digital music players."

http://www.bankrate.com/nltrack/news/pf/20060213b1.asp

===
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