How Much Did Those 24 Songs Cost You?

Software and Digital media always have a problem in that they do not really exist. Well, they do and they don’t. They do in the sense that you interact with them, but they do not in the sense that they are not something tangible. They’re virtual.

And as such, they’re next to impossible to keep 100% secure. Everything from your username and password to music to applications can be broken into, the question comes down to how much time it would take and is it worth it.

I know, scary to think about.

File sharing has been going on for a long time on the Internet. The problem is that some of the files that are being shared are files that are the property of people that intend to make money off their creative work, and they do not appreciate someone taking it and distributing it to everyone so that no one pays for it.

This is the case of Jammie Thomas, who found that just 24 songs could end up costing her $220,000:

In the first US trial to challenge the illegal downloading of music on the Internet, a single mother from Minnesota was ordered Thursday to pay more than 220,000 dollars for sharing 24 songs online.

She turned down an offer to pay a few thousands dollars in fines and instead took the case to court.

Thomas, an employee of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, an Indian tribe, was ordered to pay a 9,250-dollar fine for each of 24 shared songs cited in the case.

The record companies are serious folks. And it’s not enough to say that they are entrapping people, or that you don’t know who did the uploading.