RIAA Sues AllofMp3.com for $1.65 Trillion

[Michael Hill]

http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2006/12...-165-trillion/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AllOfMP3.com
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=20409

Wow, I think the RIAA is going WAY over the line. By the way, how can the RIAA sue a Russian company for breaking American Laws? Think of the Millionaires! How are they going to feed their children?

Also, what AllofMp3.com is doing is legal under Russian Law.

Also, for reference, Russia's GDP is about $1.5 Trillion.

[Greg Marra]

redherring.com? It's a clue!

There's going to be 1.65 trillion of this year's game object on the field!

[Michael Hill]

What? I fail to see the significance of redherring.com...

[Bill_Hancoc]

The significance
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...+red+herrin g

[raymaniac]

Originally Posted by Greg Marra

redherring.com? It's a clue!

There's going to be 1.65 trillion of this year's game object on the field!

What will the object be? Air molecules???

[Michael Hill]

I'd rather stay on topic; sorry.

[JBotAlan]

I think the RIAA really has no jurisdiction in Russia; however, I'm no lawmaker. I think they are quick to make an example out of allofmp3 just so that nobody else will try something similar and maybe leverage down some other sites that they frown on, like Pirate Bay.

I wish the RIAA would butt out; I don't see why people get so tweaked when their music is spread for free...I would love to have my music all over the globe and be broke rather than bar this free publicity and be broke because I expected royalties...what people won't do for money...

$1.65 trillion... That's a lot of Krispy Kremes...

JBot

[Adam Richards]

I see the court ruling in favor of the RIAA (at a lesser amount), but AllofMp3.com will not have to pay a penny of it, since it has no operations in the United States.

The most I could see come out of this is a decision regarding international commerce and the internet, possibly making the government censor more material on the internet.

[DCA Fan]

1.65 Trillion? Is that a new record for largest amount of cash that anyone has sued for?

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by DCA Fan

1.65 Trillion? Is that a new record for largest amount of cash that anyone has sued for?

I've never heard of anything higher. It really reminds me of Austin Powers. We want...*zooms in*...1 million dollars. ("Boss, don't you think we should ask for MORE than a million dollars?") Right...We want...*zooms in*...1 million billion dollars...

We want $1 kajillion trillion zillion. Now Russia should pay it to them...in pennies. Just watching 165 Trillion pennies drop on the RIAA headquarters would be amazing.

[Jeff Rodriguez]

I think this is the beginning of the end for DRM.
The RIAA will lose and it will be a huge news story. It will drive traffic to AllOfmp3 because they sell music for dirt cheap and other companies will try to replicate their success.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Hello All,
There was a lengthy discussion about the RIAA a few months back. It would be good for you all to search the archive and read that thread. The RIAA wants their members to get paid for what they own, their intellectual property being used by the masses.

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

RIAA wants their members to get paid for what they own, their intellectual property being used by the masses.

The question is, whether the artists/producers individually own the rights to this music, or whether the recording industry at large collectively owns it. Russian intellectual property law is its own beast, and consequently, the North American concepts of ownership aren't necessarily applicable there. Russian law currently recognizes group ownership and group licencing for conventional radio broadcasts (meaning individual songs don't need to be licenced), and allofmp3.com tried to extend that model to downloadable content. It's for the Russians to decide whether that conforms with their law.

Also, damages of $150 000 per download are simply stupid. How are the plaintiffs proposing to prove that each of 11 million downloads caused those damages, especially when they themselves licence the very same songs over other services for less than a dollar apiece? What court would offer punitive damages in that amount, when it is obviously beyond the means of the defendant's nation to cover the sum of the damages?

[Ryan Dognaux]

As I've said before, this cannot be stopped - especially when you're dealing with countries other than your own. The Pirate Bay's servers (formerly based in Sweden) were raided and look what happened - they came back stronger than ever. The RIAA is really only going to make AllOfMp3.com even stronger from this lawsuit, and come on, 1.65 trillion dollars? Right. Keep dreaming. This should be entertaining to say the least though.

[chris31]

The RIAA does alot of stupid stuff and I hope they lose this case. I actually bought a CD from them several years ago before this whole RIAA lowsuit started. It runs from Russia so I dont think the RIAA can do much. I for one would like to see the law suit fail since I hate seeing the US try and dominate and overpower the laws of other countries.