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Piracy The Almighty Buck The Courts News

RIAA Says LimeWire Owes $1.5 Trillion 510

An anonymous reader writes "LimeWire owes the major record labels one point five trillion dollars, at a conservative estimate. At least, that's what an RIAA lawyer says. He also wants LimeWire shut down and its assets frozen, says Ray Beckerman's Recording Industry vs The People blog."
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RIAA Says LimeWire Owes $1.5 Trillion

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  • by jpedlow ( 1154099 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:09AM (#32497026)
    And I used to say MY lawyer was expensive.....
    • Re:1.5 Trillion?! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by SIBM ( 1114319 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:13AM (#32497112)
      Many of the claims by the record labels are bupkis. It seems to be their business model. Instead of changing and embracing digital tech, they fear it, call it blasphemes, and sue the pants off of dead people et al. If I knew anyone personally who had been sued I'd jump o the piracy bandwagon to, I could not support and industry that will forcefully try to remove money from the people its suppose to cater to. 1.5 T is ridiculous. (I wonder how many sales have been generated by downloaders liking an artist and buying the latest CD?)
      • Re:1.5 Trillion?! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by QuantumRiff ( 120817 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:55AM (#32497938)

        If Limewire is smart, they will not try to argue this amount down. they should keep letting the lawyers demand 1.5 trillion. It will help shine light on how excessive and non-realistic the penalties are.

        • by Rival ( 14861 )

          Wait, something like this could work to everyone's advantage:

          1.) Set up a company hosting all music and movies to be shared. Encode said files with an identical MD5 checksum, to be used later.
          For irony, perhaps use 09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0. [slashdot.org]
          The checksum will be used as evidence because checksums are very hard to fake. [imdb.com]
          2.) Everybody grab whatever they want.
          3.) The RIAA/MPAA sues the company for $1.5 trillion, or whatever large number they'd lik

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by nofx_3 ( 40519 )

        Agreed, but we saw this coming, in fact I saw this coming a year and a half ago when I posted this comment: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1095153&cid=26492161 [slashdot.org] with some quick math that put an estimate at around $2 Billion. Not bad for back of the envelope math.

      • Re:1.5 Trillion?! (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Com2Kid ( 142006 ) <com2kidSPAMLESS@gmail.com> on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @03:28PM (#32501592) Homepage Journal

        Many of the claims by the record labels are bupkis. It seems to be their business model. Instead of changing and embracing digital tech,

        Sorry, that is last decade's argument.

        Between all you can eat Zune Pass, streaming radio Pandora, digital ecosystem iTunes, and unencumbered MP3's from Amazon, music is now available in pretty much any digital format, with any sort of imaginable payment scheme.

        ~10 years ago I made a post similar to yours. Back then I was unable to legally purchase MP3s of the music I wanted. That has changed.

        Instead argue about fair use possibilities for lime wire or something else like that.

    • From TFA: "Now it looks as though one Kelly M. Klaus (right) of Munger, Tolles & Olson, yet another RIAA posse, wants Wood to order LimeWire owner Mark Gorton to pay $1,500,000,000,000 for 200,000,000 alleged downloads, at $750 per."

      $750 per song is absolutely ludicrous, not to mention Mark Gorton is not the one who downloaded 200,000,000 songs...

      • Re:1.5 Trillion?! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Barrinmw ( 1791848 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:25AM (#32497344)
        Since when is 750% markup on punishment not cruel or unusual? That is like saying I steal a car, now I owe $15 million to the person I stole it to. True, there are criminal charges with stealing a car, but there would be civil ones as well.
        • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

          by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:27AM (#32497370)
          Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Re:1.5 Trillion?! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by ICLKennyG ( 899257 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:41AM (#32497642)
        TFA: $1.5T; 200m downloads @ $750 per
        That's not how copyright statutory damages work. It's per work infringed not number of times the work was infringed. You would have to cite that you owned 200,000,000 (or at the very least 600,600) works and that all of them were copied illegally by the proposed system to get that far. Even then it's pretty remote for vicarious/inducement liability. Copyright has statutory damages due to the general rules against presuming damages. Statutory damages are your option if you wish to not prove the exact damages. I wouldn't be surprised if Limewire made a Rule 11 (b) motion to sanction this pleading. It's REALLY POOR. The UPPER limit of the presumable damages for this action are the 30 songs named in the complaint times the ~$250k in statutory damages available. That's ~$7.5M.
    • by garyisabusyguy ( 732330 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:26AM (#32497360)

      That value seems out of range, considering that you could finance two wars, clean up the BP spill and probably have enough left over to coat New Orleans in gold leaf...

      In most scientific pursuits, getting a value that far out of range would lead a person to conclude that some of their underlying assumptions are invalid and cause them to form a more realistic hypothesis.

      Apparently, in the riaa's world it means that they will develop superpowers and start traveling past the speed of light.

      freaking morons

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          Or they 'graciously' settle for 1% and still laugh all the way to the bank.

          $15 billion? From Limewire LLC?! Methinks you're off by a couple orders of magnitude...

      • by gravis777 ( 123605 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:39AM (#32497592)

        What should be considered is, if filesharing were not around, at ALL, would their losses equal $1.5 trillion. Do their lawyers understand what a trillion is? I wonder if, in the entire history of the music industry, if they have taken in that much.

      • by interkin3tic ( 1469267 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @12:06PM (#32498182)

        That value seems out of range, considering that you could finance two wars, clean up the BP spill and probably have enough left over to coat New Orleans in gold leaf...

        That's their goal, it was going to be a nice surprise for the rest of us, but now you've kind of ruined it...

        • by MartinSchou ( 1360093 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @02:32PM (#32500796)

          Well, how much gold does 1.5 trillion dollars buy?

          Well, gold is around 1,235 USD/ounce [goldprice.org] at the moment. So we could buy 1,21 billion ounces. That's 34,432 tonnes. And to put that into perspective, it is estimated that throughout humanity we have mined between 140,000 and 160,000 tons, so that'd be 21 to 24% percent of all gold ever mined.

          At 19.30 g/cm^3, that's 1.618 × 10^9 cm^3 or 1,618 m^3.

          But what about gold leaf then? Well, that's about 0.1 micrometer in thickness. And 1,618 m^3 of gold could be made into 16,180 km^2 of gold leaf. That's enough to cover the land of Delaware and Rhode Island twice. New Orleans is trickier - it's only 467.6 km^2 land, but the metro area is 9,726.6 km^2. There's plenty to cover it, but how much should be covered?

          However - we're talking about the RIAA here. They wouldn't want to gild a city. But maybe skin in an attempt to kill the evil pirates? We have enough gold leaf to cover 16,180,000,000 m^2 of skin, and the average adult has about two m^2 of skin. In other words they could completely cover 8,090,000,000 people in gold leaf. Plenty more than there are people in the world.

          At least now we know how they ended up at the 1,500,000,000,000 dollar figure.

      • by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @12:21PM (#32498488) Journal
        While we are talking about putting that value in perspective, 1.5 trillion is just over 10% of the US GDP in 2008.

        The idea that Limewire somehow owes damages equivalent to 1/10th of an entire year's output of the economy of the United States boggles the mind.
        • by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @01:33PM (#32499836) Journal
          Also, unless my inflation adjustments are wrong, 1.5 trillion in 2009 dollars is Four Times the value in 1921 dollars of the war reparations imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles.

          Yup, being a third-party facilitator to some file-sharing is four times as evil as WWI...
        • by cowscows ( 103644 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @01:42PM (#32500020) Journal

          GDP is a pretty fuzzy number and hard to conceptualize for me. Perhaps a simpler way of looking at it, in the last fiscal year, the US collected just over a trillion dollars in income taxes.

          This guy is arguing that on top of all the money people did spend on music, we would've chosen to spend an additional amount well larger than the IRS managed to collect last year with the force of law and by automatically deducting from most people's pay checks?

          There's just no way they can seriously be suggesting this. They have to be trolling.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by eln ( 21727 )
      The amount is obviously ridiculous, but it's been pretty obvious for years now that the only people who use limewire are people who are pirating music and people who are distributing viruses in order to create botnets using the computers of people who are pirating music. Limewire basically makes money from other peoples' desire to do something that the courts have repeatedly ruled is illegal, and unless they have some really amazing lawyers they're probably going to lose. They won't pay $1.5 trillion of c
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Gilmoure ( 18428 )

        At least now I know Limewire is still alive and kicking. I hadn't thought of it in ages.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        The way I see it, the issue is that we should not be setting a precedent of awarding ludicrous amounts of money. If Limewire is ordered to pay over a trillion dollars, it allows the copyright lobby to hold the threat of similar payouts over the heads over more innocent companies, should those companies do something the lobby does not approve of. The fact that Limewire happens to install spyware does not mean it is a good thing for an absurd ruling against them.
    • Re:1.5 Trillion?! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jeffmeden ( 135043 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:36AM (#32497550) Homepage Journal

      My interpretation of the headline:

      "RIAA declares LimeWire saved the economy from spending $1.5 Trillion on shitty music it didn't really need, and at least $1.4 Trillion of which wasn't worth listening to a second time anyway"

      When the numbers you throw around are significantly larger than your industry's profits from the better part of a century, and start to close in on a fraction of the GDP, you sure make it easy to poke fun at you. Do they really think anyone is going to, for even a second, believe that they would have made $1.5 trillion dollars had it not been for one crappy P2P tool? OMGLOL

  • by siglercm ( 6059 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:09AM (#32497036) Journal

    Good! Now the U.S. Gov't. needs to seize RIAA. That'll take a sizable chunk out of our $13+ trillion deficit!

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      What world do you live in? Obviously they're Too Big To Fail, and need to be bailed out to the tune of 1.5 trillion.
      • by Barrinmw ( 1791848 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:26AM (#32497364)
        Heh, I love how there are companies that are "Too Big To Fail" yet they aren't "Too Big to Require Regulation" I dunno about you, but if a single company failing could put us into a recession, then that company should be regulated to prevent that from happening.
        • See, there you go using logic. Don't do that. It makes the politicians and the businessmen afraid.
        • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:48AM (#32497772)

          You don't seem to understand economics. Individuals with their "civil rights" are worms, while corporations Too Big to Fail are emerging butterflies, ready to spread their wings and soar. The socialists like you who want to regulate companies are like a giant jackboot on a time traveller ready to squash the butterflies and end all hope for the future, and equally ready to trod underfoot the worms wallowing in their commie dirt like "health care" and "education." It's only the Republitarian Tea Party who wants to save our delicate butterflies from the vicious violations perpetrated upon them by the worms and the boots and the dirty Huns and REMEMBER THE ALAMO.

          The economy is like a car: regulation is like how the engine keeps the gasoline exploding in the engine in tiny, controlled bursts that propels the whole car forward, so if you pour enough additives like nitroglycerin into the tank—that is, if you water the tree of liberty—you can liberate those propulsive explosions from the engine's control and blow the whole car up, which will make its individual pieces—individuals and individual responsibility and individual liberty—go much, much faster as the careen flaming across space.

        • by Attila Dimedici ( 1036002 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:55AM (#32497942)

          ...if a single company failing could put us into a recession, then that company should be regulated to prevent that from happening

          How exactly do you think that anybody can regulate a company to keep it from failing? What generally happens is that the government regulates an economically critical industry, this leads to new companies from being able to enter the field. One or more of the big players screw up (or sometimes do it on purpose). This leads to demands for greater government regulation. The result of the greater regulation is that the smaller companies can no longer afford to compete. Rinse and repeat.
          As an example look at the financial regulation bills that Congress is considering. They will require massive increases on the paperwork that banks have to file. The cost of these new regulations will be more than small banks will be able to afford, so they will get bought out by the banks that were the ones that everyone is saying were the cause of the problem. Making those banks even bigger.
          If a company is "too big to fail" and the government needs to bail it out, as soon as things stabilize (and maybe before) it should be split into smaller companies.

          • by Barrinmw ( 1791848 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @12:11PM (#32498278)
            There are plenty of ways to regulate without hurting incoming businesses to the market. Forcing corporations to keep a certain amount of cash on hand to handle any hiccups would be one way. Yeah, they wouldn't be able to grow as fast as smaller companies, but that isn't as bad as shrinking the entire economy.

            Also, it would be easy for Congress to make it so that bank reform only affects financial institutions over a certain value. Your local bank won't be affected, but big huge banks would. Small banks failing don't destroy the national economy.
    • by Jurily ( 900488 ) <(moc.liamg) (ta) (yliruj)> on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:27AM (#32497366)

      That'll take a sizable chunk out of our $13+ trillion deficit!

      Meh. According to the RIAA, my hard drive is valued over $500 million, but I still have to work for a living.

      Btw, anyone wanna buy a hard drive?

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by TooMuchToDo ( 882796 )
        Will you take movies in trade? I'll swear on their value! Perhaps we can get the MPAA to appraise them =)
  • HAHAHAHAHA (Score:5, Funny)

    by kidgenius ( 704962 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:10AM (#32497052)
    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Wow.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA And they expect to get this money how? Are there any corporations around that even have a market cap above a trillion? They might as well ask for a BAJILLION!
  • Yeah and GPS systems owe police millions of dollars in fines for helping criminals know a quick route out of town.
  • I didn't realize that the RIAA would let them off so easily. Oh well, LimeWire can always appeal and get it kicked up to a couple vigintillion a la Jammie Thomas.
  • by Lemental ( 719730 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:11AM (#32497072)
    I am submitting a bill for 500 million to McDonalds, Phillip Morris and Jack Daniels for turning me into a Fat Alcoholic who smokes.
  • by pembo13 ( 770295 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:12AM (#32497084) Homepage

    The appropriate response to such a statement is a delivery of mint Monopoly® bills to the sum of 1.5 trillion.

    • Yeah, cause the best way to respond is to do something that is guaranteed to piss off the court and get yourself into a bigger mess.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        Yeah, cause the best way to respond is to do something that is guaranteed to piss off the court and get yourself into a bigger mess.

        What are they going to do? Throw you in prison? Oh noes, contempt of court charges! You can take the fine out of my bank account that is currently overdrawn to the tune of $-1,500,000,000,000.00

        If you ever put me that far into debt, it's like tunneling through the world and coming out the other side, the punishment loops around. You have set the punishment to such a ridicul

    • by jbeaupre ( 752124 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:25AM (#32497350)
      No, send a couple Zimbabwe trillion dollar bills, then demand half a trillion in change.
  • Making Shit Up (Score:4, Insightful)

    by whisper_jeff ( 680366 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:12AM (#32497088)
    If this isn't as clear an example of how the RIAA is making shit up as they go along, I don't know what it will take. They keep coming up with outrageous numbers and nobody blinks. So they come up with bigger numbers, and get away with it. And bigger numbers, and they get paid. And bigger numbers, and laws change. And now they are saying one company owes them $1.5 TRILLION. This has got to be the point where sane people around the world finally say "What? That's a joke, right? Please say that's a joke."

    People are going to say that, right?
    • Not making shit up (Score:5, Informative)

      by l2718 ( 514756 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:29AM (#32497422)
      Under US Copyright law, damage awards are not necessarily connected to actual damages. The court is given a range (the range depends on whether the infringement is "wilful"), and may assign any damages it considers just from that range -- the plaintiff doesn't have to prove their actual damages. These statutory damages are figured out per act of infringement and the top of the range can be $150,000. To get the $1.5T figure the RIAA is arguing that LimeWire has contributed to 10M cases of infringement, and should be forced to pay the maximum penalty of $150K per. According to US law they are free to make this claim, but the court doesn't have to accept it. There is an argument that too wide a disparity between the actual damages (no more than $0.20 per downloaded song) and the damage award (say, the $9000 per download that has been awarded in a particular file-sharing case) might violate the Due Process Clause of the (14th Amendment to) the Constitution, but there is no definite Supreme Court precedent on that.
    • by fantomas ( 94850 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:36AM (#32497554)

      "This has got to be the point where sane people around the world finally say "What? That's a joke, right? Please say that's a joke."
      Trust me buddy, lots of us round the world have been having a good laugh at what the crazy Americans do for years. We'll just add it to the long list of why we think your nation is mad.

      Nothing personal, we know most of you are lovely fine folk. But you've sure got your share of idiots that we're happy are an ocean away from us.

      It just gets scary when our leaders import daft ideas they hear from your idiots, so please keep them quiet. Our politicians keep on copying them and try to better them. Please don't give our politicians any more ideas.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by McDutchie ( 151611 )

        It just gets scary when our leaders import daft ideas they hear from your idiots, so please keep them quiet. Our politicians keep on copying them and try to better them. Please don't give our politicians any more ideas.

        In other words, we Europeans are just as crazy as the Americans, but we don't even have the courage or the wits to be original about it. Instead we are content to be America's docile little lapdog. That's hardly a cause to boast, is it?

      • by ctsupafly ( 1731348 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @01:19PM (#32499626)

        It just gets scary when our leaders import daft ideas they hear from your idiots, so please keep them quiet. Our politicians keep on copying them and try to better them. Please don't give our politicians any more ideas.

        Hello, I represent the BCAA (Batshit Crazy Americans Association) and understand that you are in violation of several of our copyrights...

  • by bcmm ( 768152 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:12AM (#32497092)
    For a sense of scale, that rather silly number is about a thousand times the annual revenue of EMI. Also, this page [pagetutor.com] feels kinda relevant.
  • Obviously (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Skyshadow ( 508 ) * on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:12AM (#32497098) Homepage

    It should be clear to anyone that the damage caused by Limewire dwarf those from, say, BP.

    Also, the RIAA is full of retards. No offense to people with actual disabilities, mind you, unless they work at the RIAA.

  • by macklin01 ( 760841 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:13AM (#32497116) Homepage

    Wow, by this google search [google.com], that amounts to just over 10% of the entire US GDP. Glad somebody's been genuinely productive this year.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by sco08y ( 615665 )

      More googly searching shows 1.5 trillion would be on the low end of some of the claims of how much is owed for reparations for slavery in the US.

      It's way more than the reparations paid out to holocaust survivors, even after inflation.

      It's higher than the some claims of the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

      What it proves is how music labels have been inflating their damages by a ridiculous margin, and should call into question many of their legal practices and the judgements in their favor.

  • By that standard of reasoning I shall now submit a claim to the RIAA for $1.75 quadrillion for inflicting me with what I can only describe as unwanted noisey rhythm.
  • by copponex ( 13876 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:15AM (#32497172) Homepage

    You know, the justice system is at least supposed to give the illusion of justice in order to work. Apparently I can destroy the ecosystem of a good 20% of the American coastline and pay 20,000 times less than a company that made P2P file sharing easier.

    What. The. Fuck.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:16AM (#32497190)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by schon ( 31600 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:35AM (#32497524)

      Well *obviously* they only made $50B/year because Limewire is stealing all their income! So if Limewire hadn't existed, they would have made every penny of that $1.5 Trillion. And don't try telling me that it's absurd that they would be owed 10% of the entire US GDP. GDP is only a measure of economic output, so obviously if Limewire hadn't stolen all that money, and it had gone to EMI instead, the GDP would have been $1.5 Trillion more than it was!

      And since it's known that EMI's revenue is a tiny fraction of the US's GDP, we can only conclude that the GDP would have been several thousands of times higher than it was.

      Conclusion: LIMEWIRE IS STEALING TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM THE USA EVERY YEAR!!!!!

  • Funny Money (Score:5, Interesting)

    by longacre ( 1090157 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:16AM (#32497192) Homepage
    $1.5 trillion is more than the combined revenue of every RIAA member in this history of the world.
  • The sad thing is... the US courts may agree because they are buying into the whole 1 copy = 1 lost sale, at market value and the insane numbers this pseudo evaluation gives. If this spreads outside US with treaties I will indeed lose hope in humanity.
  • by SCHecklerX ( 229973 ) <greg@gksnetworks.com> on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:19AM (#32497248) Homepage

    This ridiculousness needed to be stopped at its source. Artists should have stopped signing on with the RIAA at least a decade ago. They are not needed. Even as a hobby, these days, you can afford to self-produce with your own studio, if you are so inclined.

    No artists == no product == no RIAA.

    • by Chatterton ( 228704 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:30AM (#32497450) Homepage

      This is interresting especially when you see things like this: how-much-do-music-artists-earn-online [informatio...utiful.net]

    • by jandrese ( 485 ) <kensama@vt.edu> on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:49AM (#32497794) Homepage Journal
      Self publishing sounds great until you realize what percentage of the Radio stations in the country are owned by ClearChannel, and how much of the remainder is christian/talk/news/etc... radio. Also how many venues are owned by RIAA members. Self publishing and small labels are still a road to obscurity because the big incumbents have spend decades entrenching themselves in the system. They have been largely successful at getting monopoly restrictions repealed as well over the past couple of decades.
      • by dkleinsc ( 563838 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @12:57PM (#32499216) Homepage

        Self publishing and small labels are still a road to obscurity because the big incumbents have spend decades entrenching themselves in the system.

        You might not get super-famous doing self-publishing, but if you end up more economically comfortable doing self-publishing you'll see most musicians begging for the chance. The vast majority of musicians (in all styles of music) stay afloat via some combination of performing, teaching, self-published recordings, and very likely a non-musical job. A few are signed to labels, but due to Hollywood accounting the musicians basically make nothing from that kind of deal. A very very very few (e.g. Michael Jackson) will make it really really big.

        Basically, your chances of making big bucks as a good musician are about the same as the chance that your average high school football player will end up as an NFL star. And by signing with a label, you give yourself a chance at the big bucks but at the risk of making absolutely nothing. A lot of musicians would much rather have a guaranteed modest income rather than a 0.05% chance at making millions.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Sir_Kurt ( 92864 )

        Well I say self publish AND fuck the radio stations too.

        The real reason that the RIAA and the media groups are going after p2p and internet streaming is that they would like to abolish/control a much more flexible and cheaper method of distribution than CDs and radio.

        So make your own music. Play it in the park. Share with your friends stream it on the internet and do it for free.

        Kurt

  • by Shadow Wrought ( 586631 ) * <shadow@wrought.gmail@com> on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:31AM (#32497464) Homepage Journal
    1. Establish that you're owed $1.5 TRILLION
    2. Extend that to the means of transfer: MS and Apple
    3. Sue them and settle for, say, 10% of your claim?
    4. Chuckle maniacially to the bank!
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by cowscows ( 103644 )

      Interesting theory, but going after MS and Apple doesn't really fit the RIAA's style. MS and Apple can afford scary lawyers and fight back.

      Honestly, I don't even think this is about making money for the RIAA anymore. I think they're past that point. Most of the people they sue can't afford anywhere near the number they throw around, and then end up settling for amounts that are pocket change as far as the RIAA is concerned. Basically, they're watching their business model becoming obsolete, there's nothing

  • off the deep end (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Triv ( 181010 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:34AM (#32497508) Journal

    ...what the fuck are they smoking.

    The current US Gross Domestic Product is in the vicinity of 14 trillion dollars.

    The RIAA honestly believes that Limewire owes them 10% of all the wealth produced by the United States in a year.

    The RIAA was always living in their own little fantasy world, but I didn't realize the depth of their delusion until now.

    This has to stop.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      LimeWire should hand the business over for the balance owned, then the US Government should tax the RIAA for $1.5T. The IRS should track every penny of that money down as vigorously the RIAA hunted down LimeWire and make sure there isn't any funny accounting going on.
  • by Aim Here ( 765712 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:36AM (#32497552)

    Think about it. The RIAA's usual claim is that every downloaded file is a lost sale. and damages should be calculated based on that. Now by asking for this ludicrious figure, they've just put the lie to that previous assertion, since there is absolutely no way in hell that the general public could, or would have paid for $1 trillion worth of their products.

    On the other hand, they've just claimed that Limewire has increased the net digital wealth of the world by something of the order of well over $1 trillion, something the RIAA could never have done by themselves. Way to go, Limewire!

  • by MartinSchou ( 1360093 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:42AM (#32497674)

    That's not too bad. It's only like 40% of the US Federal Budget for 2009.

    That'll only buy them:
    100 F-35 (9 billion)
    100 F-22 (15 billion)
    3 Gerald R Ford class carriers (27 billion, carries 225 planes)
    4 Virginia class submarines (11.2 billion)
    10 Zumwalt class destroyers (33 billion)

    And then they'll "only" have 1,400 billion dollars left. That should keep them in crew for a while as well.

  • Hey RIAA!!! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Progman3K ( 515744 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:45AM (#32497718)

    I'LL pay your 1.5 trillion...
    But first, you need to wire me some transfer money so I can send you the 1.5 trillion.
    Wire me 2 million and it should be OK.
    Then I will send you your winnings, I mean money.
    Thanks

  • by imrehg ( 1187617 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @11:47AM (#32497760)

    It's not just the enormity of the demanded money, but how shamelessly they try to get EVERYTHING done in one go, flying under the radar. They want to have injection against Limewire, and EVERY "comparable system", which is defined as:

    (i) any system or software that is substantially comparable to the LimeWire System and Software, including but not limited to FrostWire, Acquisition, BearFlix, Cabos, Gnucleus/GnucDNA, Gtk-gnutella, KCeasy, MP3 Rocket, Phex, Poisoned, Shareaza, Symella, BitTorrent, uTorrent, Vuze/Azureus, BitComet, Transmission, Deluge, BitLord, KTorrent, eDonkey, eMule, aMule, MLDonkey, xMule, Ares Galaxy, MP2P, Manolito, isoHunt, or Piratebay, as those systems or software existed before or as of the date of this Permanent Injunction;

    I mean, come on! I'm lost for words...

  • by jimicus ( 737525 ) on Tuesday June 08, 2010 @12:42PM (#32498876)

    This morning I posted the opinion that if you believe the figures churned out by those that are heavily anti-piracy (BSA, RIAA, MPAA), eliminating piracy would double the GDP of the entire planet overnight. Hyperbole? Well, I didn't think so, though I had one reply that implied it might be.

    And this afternoon, we have the RIAA demanding approximately the GDP of Brazil on the basis of damages from one product.

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