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What's the Deal on Downloading?
Saving Your Teen a World Wide Web of Trouble
By Tamekia Reece
In 2003, the parents of Brianna Lahara, a seventh-grader from New York City, were sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after she downloaded over 1,000 songs on her computer. P2P United, a group that represents several file-sharing sites, footed the settled-upon $2,000 fine, but you may not be as lucky.
Downloading movies and music for free or via P2P software is copyright infringement, and unless your teen has legal permission, copying or distributing copyrighted material can land you in a heap of trouble.
The experts at WhatsTheDownload say penalties can include hefty fines and even prison time.
If your teen thinks she can secretly download those files, tell her to think again. When you're online, you're not anonymous. You have what's known as an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a numeric code that basically "names" you online. No matter what site you visit, your IP address remains the same, so "finding" your teen is as easy as going to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) with the IP address and getting your contact information. After that, a lawsuit may soon follow.
A recent Gallup poll found that 83 percent of teens still think it's acceptable to illegally download copyrighted material, so it's clear to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) that education is key.
In March 2003, the MPAA unveiled a public awareness trailer that runs in theaters nationwide and on television. They also launched RespectCopyrights.org, a site that explains the importance of copyright protection.
