AfterDawn: News

16 year old file sharer to get jail time

Stavanger Norway was the site of a P2P crack down in which a 16 year old boy was arrested and charged for operating a hub on the popular Direct Connect P2P software. The boy, who's name hasn't been released on the account that he's a minor, ran a hub called Stavanger Dragon Hub in which reports state some 7,000 movies, 150,000 songs and 20,000 video clips were shared illegally.

Initial reports claim that the boy could receive up to 60 days in jail and fined the amount of NOK4000 ($644) for the alleged crime. The prosecuting lawyer for Simonsen, regional representatives for the MPAA, stated that the boy's parents could also face a yet undisclosed six figure penalty for failure to properly monitor their child's activities while on the Internet.



Marte Thorsby of the IFPI stated that his firm believes the boy was fully aware of his actions and hopes these charges send a powerful message to parents to actively become a part of their children's online affairs.

Source:
The Register

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 5 Jan 2007 6:03

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• 29 comments

• The_Fiend

  How f***ing pathetic is this cowboy bullsh*t ?
  Someone should start shooting MPAA and RIAA executives every time these scumbags file a lawsuit against a minor.
  

  5.1.2007 06:24 #1

• plutonash

  WTF he isn t even a adult also why should his parent pay also. Most older folk dont know jack about computers

  5.1.2007 07:12 #2

• sammorris

  Another MPAA international funding mission..

  5.1.2007 07:39 #3

• anubis66

  if everybody hates the RIAA and the MPAA then why are they still going? beause people like you still buy cd's, still go to the movies.. they will never die.

  5.1.2007 07:56 #4

• sammorris

  because they're rich, and stunts like this keep it that way. You don't think any of this actually goes to the producers do you? Not as if they need the money anyway...

  5.1.2007 08:35 #5

• DVDdoug

  Not bad... 60 days in jail and ~$600. This kid's gonna be a freekin' hero when he returns to school!!!!
  
  Now, if they come after the parents for "six figures", that's another story.

  5.1.2007 08:43 #6

• sammorris

  Six figures, that's insane, especially for a crime I never knew existed.

  5.1.2007 08:49 #7

• anubis66

  i could see mabe 3.. but 6?!? whats wrong with these guys. groups that run on pure greed should be dismalted by the government, but when your government is run on greed (usa blows) that never happens.

  5.1.2007 08:55 #8

• georgeluv

  "if everybody hates the RIAA and the MPAA then why are they still going? beause people like you still buy cd's, still go to the movies.. they will never die."
  
  the large media companies still have HUGE stickpiles of cash from the 90's, they could afford to keep this form of resistance going for another 20 years even if they never sold another cd or dvd again starting today. this is a fact. luckily the cost of litigation and lawyer fees are skyrocketing.

  5.1.2007 09:12 #9

• borhan9

  LOL!!! They have problems with suing adults soo now they move to kids well done losers. :P

  5.1.2007 10:11 #10

• wired_

  wow i'm glad i don't live in the U.S
  

  RipIt4Me will rip any dvd out there! Download it at http://www.ripit4me.org and never look back!!
  Why pay when you can rip 100% for free?!!!
  Alkohol's Guide: RipIt4Me (DVD Decryptor + Fix VTS) + DVD Shrink + Img Burn
  http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/422740
  

  5.1.2007 10:16 #11

• dorkempi

  Fucking stupid, I agree, let's start to shoot MPAA executives...

  5.1.2007 10:21 #12

• skeil909

  Destroying the life of a child and his family with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, because a child was sharing music and videos should be criminal in and of itself.
  
  Most murderers and other violent felons get multiple chances at rehabilitation. Why not sentence children and parents to the equivelant of copyright awareness classes instead. That would make more sense. But we are dealing with Corporate America and to them sense is cents. :)

  5.1.2007 11:17 #13

• sammorris

  Good god, stories like this do attract the idiots, sometimes. It's always the same, a hundred odd comments on "man this organisation should die", with the odd swear word thrown in. If you're so annoyed by it, do something about it, boycott the physical media.

  5.1.2007 12:28 #14

• Dela

  ok i know ppl feel strongly on this subject,l but lets keep it clean shall we? For those who dont want to, go ahead and start arguing, but you will get kicked out. Otherwise, let the comments roll in :-)

  5.1.2007 12:59 #15

• sssharp

  Well if they go after the parents, there life is ruined. They will most likely be unable to afford a fine that steep forcing them to file bankruptcy. People here may not support them to much but look at the ipod sales and movie business. Civilians still pay for the feature all over the world. My big problem is their complaints of losing money, those figures are blown up 100% to 1000% to make the government "care" allowing for civil punishment.

  5.1.2007 13:45 #16

• raceman94

  More bullshit from the MPAA and RIAA. Screw 'em all.

  6.1.2007 17:48 #17

• Ethrieltd

  This six figure sum would be in the millions right?
  
  ..so these folk just wont be able to pay it, i have loads of pirate stuff but i dont really care what the "authorities" do or say cos i havent the money to pay a ridiculous fine, so i`d just go to jail instead which would suck but gives no money to the MPAA/RIAA/Whatever.
  
  I`m english and we get screwed here on the price of cds/dvds so i have no moral obejections to piracy and when they say that it jepodises future film production it just makes me laugh any decent movie will get made anyway it just possibly prevents multi-million dollar abortions like Waterworld, Titanic and Pearl Harbour being made and i`ll bet it dosent even do that really.
  
  When Troy was released all my mates had pirate copies but that didnt stop it from making $360 million dollars did it.
  
  

  6.1.2007 18:02 #18

• johnblaze

  Originally posted by Ethrieltd:This six figure sum would be in the millions right?
  6 figures means in the hundreds of thousands, ie $123,456, but it's not stated in the article if it's 6 figures in nowegian or usd.
  
  I know everyone, myself included, want for movies and music to be free, but they aren't. This kid broke the law, he got caught, he got punished, it's a risk that anyone distributing or collecting pirated material takes. The only unfair piece about this article is the part about fining the parents, but it sounds more like bs to scare people, and I doubt it actually happens.

  6.1.2007 18:36 #19

• Ethrieltd

  which was pretty much what i said apart from the money math.
  
  What my point was is there is to my mind a difference between "illegal" & "wrong"
  
  As in its illegal to make backup copies of dvds even if you own the original but its not "wrong"
  
  Yeah attempting to fine his parents is not on really as him being over the age of criminal responsibilty as is evidenced by them charging him and speculating on his jail time shouldnt that therefore prove that he and not his parents were responsible for his actions.
  
  What really gets me is that for organisations like the MPAA/RIAA they wont stick to their own standard on whos responsible for what prefering to charge dead people, 12 year olds, and OAPS without computers.
  
  They`ll just keep fining people and using that money to pay their lawyers to look for more and more obscure laws to turn the screws on people, the next thing you know it`ll be like it is with the war on drugs, you`ll be able to be charged with "allowing your premises to be used for piracy" for you 5 year old sister watching a ripped copy of The Little Mermaid.
  
  The actions of the "authorities" are nothing to do with preventing piracy/punishing the guilty. They are simply making money and almost none of that goes to these supposedly hard done by artists.
  
  If record compaines didnt pay people like robbie williams and micheal jackson obscene advances to the tune of $80 to $100 million then maybe they could afford to make their product cheaper and we all might buy it rather than copy.
  
  But apparently that concept seems to be beyond them so i`ll carry on copying what i want when i want but it`ll be my own fault if i go to jail as i know i`m breaking the law.

  6.1.2007 18:58 #20

• crof27

  These governments should learn that since this type of software/hardware is as widely avialable then there is gonna be people who want to use it, so if they dont want this to happen then they should ban it. But since these governments ( ie the u.s ) allow people to own weapons and think nothing of it then they should just leave people alone and let them get on with it unless they are harming someone. copywrit stuff once made available to the public becomes public owned so therefore this wee guy did no wrong and they shouldn't be doin anythin cept slap the wrists of the people who made it public venture to start with!!!! get the priorites right mp's

  7.1.2007 03:05 #21

• johnblaze

  Originally posted by Ethrieltd:which was pretty much what i said apart from the money math.That was why I only quoted the math part, the rest are my views in general on the subject, not a response to your post.

  7.1.2007 05:13 #22

• Dlux427

  the kid is a f**kin pirate...big deal....so are many other MILLIONS of ADULTS in thie world, why do u have to go for a kid......i mean....that is just fu**ed up man.. Not to mention they could get the parents for a crime they didnt even do....since when is it a crimeto not monitor every little thing your kids do....thats BS

  7.1.2007 06:47 #23

• bc_grl

  Suing the parents of a 16 year boy deinitely is a scare tactic. Like how am I going to watch everything my son is doing at that age?
  
  I am definitely for copying movies you already own as I am now copying all 800 original DVDs I own. I have already watched some of the movies that they have worn out (and I had to replace them)!
  
  The ads on each movie for illegal copying-how we are stealing from the Producers, actors and so forth is ridiculous when they talk about how Will Smith makes over $20M each movie! Does he not make enough money? When is it time for a Robin Hood(s) to stand up to stop this? I honestly don't know where to begin to write my letters to and if they really would make a difference anyway.

  7.1.2007 09:41 #24

• h8xor

  It is illegal and we all know that. But to hold families accountable for 1 person is ludacris. The internet is easy to use, it isn't like the kid snuck out of the house and was conducting massive drug deals (which would have a lighter sentenceing mind you) and dealing to people behind his parents back. How do you know somthing terrible is going on when he is safe at home?

  8.1.2007 03:20 #25

• Jimathome

  hi, As metioned by others the kid who did this surely knew what he was doing but heh he's a kid we all do silly things when we're kids, however to try to make his parents responsible for this is ridiculous, parents can and indeed should keep an eye on there kids activities. but the truth is a lot of parents are completely PC illiterate and have no idea of what kids can get up to online, should they therefore be penalized for there ignorance ? I think not as this would suggest that all parents should be aware of all possible legal infringements that clildren could involve themselves in, which is of course impossible. I think our courts and judges are in this respect more realistic here in europe than in the USA where suing seems to be the national sport, and I don't think that they will have to pay this six figure fine

  8.1.2007 05:51 #26

• Thonor

  Probably the annoying part is that the kid's parents wouldn't know what the heck was going on even if he DID tell them... Something like:
  
  Dad: Junior, what are you doing?
  Kid: Running a 5MB/s SMPT DC++ port to enable people to share ISOs, MP3s and AVIs over the net
  Dad: Huh?
  
  I know what my parents would do in the same situation - Nothing, because they'd have no idea WHAT to do. Not that they're stupid, they just aren't computer literate enough to even know these kinds of things exist in the forms that they do.
  
  I feel sorry for the kid's parents.

  19.1.2007 06:14 #27

• chubbyInc

  Not sure of Norway's laws, but USA and Canada people under 18 don't go to jail, maybe a holding cell at a police station, but not jail.
  
  And Thonor has a point, but not a good one, parents should be aware of what their kids are doing, could have been a lot worse for the kid, he could have got mixed up with some pervert like Foley.

  19.1.2007 10:53 #28

• craftyzan

  In USA kids under 18 go to prison for life if they commit capitol crimes, but for filesharing, I don't think so. http://www.rightsforall.amnesty.org/what/appeals/torture.htm
  This URL will seriously open your eyeballs.

  22.1.2007 14:47 #29