If the reaction of Minnesota Duluth students is any indication, the recording industry's hope that Thursday's $222,000 verdict will deter sharing copyrighted audio files may be wishful thinking.
"Kids will continue no matter what until they get caught and get in trouble themselves," Kayla Steeves said of her peers. "I know people who do it and they don't care. I've said 'Aren't you not suppose to do that,' and they say, 'I don't care.'"
The music industry has claimed that such file sharing is costing millions of dollars annually. It has adopted a get-tough attitude, filing lawsuits against thousands of people it claims have infringed copyrights. A jury in Federal District Court in Duluth decided Thursday that a Brainerd, Minn., woman is liable for $222,000 in damages for willfully committing copyright infringement by distributing 24 songs on the KaZaA peer-to-peer file sharing network. It was the first such case in the nation to come to jury trial.
Nick Kuvaas thinks that high school and college-aged people won't be deterred unless such lawsuits and damage awards become "real common, really fast." People of that age, he said, have an attitude of: "No one is going to set me down."
"I think it has been going on too long," said Rita Lerud, who was listening to her iPod while studying for a chemistry test this afternoon. "I find it would be impossible for everyone to be caught. There are too many kids using so many networks. Kids are smart. They're find ways to do it."
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One way to do it is sharing the music off purchased CDs without going online.
"Friends sharing with friends is going to keep on," said Luke Taintor.
"This iPod has four months of music on it," said Steve Hynum. "I can pop it into a computer and share it with anyone. There doesn't seem anyway they can curb it."
