...According to the RIAA, global piracy causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every year, 71060 U.S. jobs lost, a loss of $2.7 billion in workers earnings (RIAA). How exactly then do prosecutors solve this issue? Their answer is to sue for excessive amounts, and even prosecuting to where it can lead up to 5 years in prison. One prime example of this unfair justice is the fairly new case involving Jammie Thomas-Rasset, who illegally downloaded over 1700 songs from a p2p network. It is unethical for such a corporation to incarcerate or even sue for such a misdemeanor offense (Barret, 2010). The evolution of how we obtain music has become easier to the public due to programs that allow people to download single songs or even albums, preventing them from having to leave their homes. Although it may seem effortless, downloading music has some stipulations that go along with how you are receiving the files. Basically what it boils down to is, if you did not pay for it, then it is illegal and considered piracy (RIAA). Illegal actions should be dealt with, but the question is, “Should the RIAA be rewarded such unruly amounts of cash, or better yet send people to jail over downloading a song?” This question leads to the ongoing court case that started in 2006, in which Jammie Thomas-Rasset is being penalized for illegally downloading and sharing music on Kazaa. In Jammie’s first trial during 2007, she was demanded to pay $222,000 by the jury for copyright infringement on more than 1700...
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