The new chat thread - now with bitter arguing

I am listening to Tidal Tantrum a lot. At least I am emo in a stylish way.

 

Jammie Thomas-Rasset didn't know how good she had it.

Back in 2007, the Minnesota mother made national headlines as the first person sued by the RIAA for copyright infringement to actually take the case to trial (instead of settling out of court), after she was charged with downloading copyrighted songs through the P2P network, Kazaa. At the trial's conclusion, Thomas-Rasset was found guilty of illegally downloading 24 songs and was fined $10,000 for each one, amounting to a total of $240,000 in damages. But the case was deemed a mistrial by the judge and Thomas-Rasset waited two years for a retrial. Yesterday, the single mother of four was found guilty again, but this time ordered to pay a mind-boggling $80,000 per song -- $1.9 million in all.

Throughout the trials, Thomas-Rassett has always pledged her innocence, but juries have been incredulous. In fact, as part of her testimony in this trial, Thomas-Rassett suggested -- for the first time -- that her children or ex-husband might have been the downloading culprits. If the jurors didn't buy into the defendant's attempt at implicating her children, we couldn't imagine it helped to bolster her image in their eyes.

While, initially, a retrial seemed like a good thing, it obviously hasn't worked out. The total damages Thomas-Rassett must pay have now jumped from a total of $220,000 to a whopping $1.9 million (again, for downloading just 24 songs). In response to the astronomical judgement, she told the Times, "There's no way they're ever going to get that. I'm a mom, limited means, so I'm not going to worry about it now." Cara Duckworth, spokeswoman for the RIAA, did tell the Times that her organization was still willing to settle with Thomas-Rassett. "Since day one we have been willing to settle this case and we remain willing to do so," she said. What comes next remains to be seen, but we're guessing a payment plan is in order.

 

She was sued for keeping the songs in her Kazaa folder and thus distributing them.
Doesn't change anything about the unrealistically high outcome.
Silly Americans.

 

Neda

it's all so sad -

 

That video seriously disturbed me. A lot more so than the gore and the shock stuff that's plastered all over the internet. I've been following Iran more loosely than I'd like (still have a good idea of what's going on though), but I think that video should be required viewing for anyone who wants to feel the gravity of the situation.

 

The King of Pop has died
RIP ... Michael Jackson -

 

We'll mourn the King of Pop and bury the pedophile.

 

Well I'll be. A throne is up for grabs now.

 

I'm devastated, I am quite the fan.

 

I'm not devastated by Michael's passing but I am sad
I was lucky enough to see him in concert in the last century

NP ... don't stop 'til you get enough

 

I don't understand people. They stopped bothering with him and liking him after the accusations, and now they put him back on a pedestal just because he's dead.

 

I'm not the one to comment either, but he owned rights to the Beatles music catalog, fucked Elvis' daughter and was smart enough to stay away from Madonna.

I'd give him props just for that (I'm not familiar with his music at all).

 

I'm one for three out of those, does that make me one-third as cool as MJ?

I was slightly more distraught over the loss of Billy Mays, just because I can't make fun of him with my brother any more. Good times...

 

My joke already had a punchline, thank you very much

 

Poor Michael dead and gone
Left me here to sing his song
Pretty little girl with the red dress on
Poor Michael dead and gone

Lisa Marie claimed that they did have sex
but sex to her and Michael may be something completely different to you and me?

Yes Michael did own the Beatles music catalog but he needed some cash and sold 50% to Sony
as part of this transaction he picked up part ownership of the music catalog of artists like
Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, his estate even has a share in the music of Lady GaGa

Its the drugs stupid ...
Like his former father-in-law, it was probably/likely the drugs that did him in
(doctors always have access to the best drugs)
beside Demerol, OxyContin(here in WV we call that hillbilly heroin)
he had a thing for Diprivan
its a wonder the man could function at all, but I sure he could so call sleep
In fact he is now sleeping for eternity

Soon the conspiracies about his death should start ...
Space Aliens abducted him and replaced his body with a clone.
The CIA murdered him because he knew who really killed Princess Diana
He's still alive and living on the Island of Anafi
on and on and on -

 

MJ > Madonna

 

Did you ever read about his childhood? Drugs usually don't kill by themselves, most of the time there is a reason behind them.

 

@Plintus: I lost your email address (sorry), but I wanted to let you know that I am going to attend the Rancid show at the Festival Pier on the 25th with a couple of friends. let me know if you're going to be there.

as for the rest: HEARTBREAK! INTRIGUE! SUMMER COLD!