In another move that shows the RIAA has little respect for anything besides money, Pittsburgh news channel WTAE.com is reporting that Nineteen-year-old Ciara Sauro has been sued by the anti-piracy group for illegally sharing 10 songs.
Making the situation so awful is the fact that Sauro is hospitalized every week due to her pancreatitis and her need of an islet cell transplant. Her current accumulation of medical bills totals over $100,000.
WTAE says that “because she didn’t defend herself against a copyright lawsuit, a federal judge in Pittsburgh ruled she’s a music pirate, and that could cost the Sauros almost $8,000 in fines.”
Sauro herself paints a sad story. “I already have severe depression. I mean, it’s so hard to sit there and think that I have to get in trouble for something that I didn’t do. It’s not fair.”
Lisa Sauro, Ciara’s mother adds: “You want to know the truth? I make $8.25 an hour. She can’t work. This child is very sick. I mean, what am I supposed to do?
“I just want them to know that I have to go through enough stress in my life with my sickness and my family, and I don’t think that they should go after people just because they want money for something that’s not even fair to us.”
RIAA, you have already sued dead women, 8-year old children, printers and 90-year grandmothers, but this is truly disgusting. This girl could possibly die as a teenager, yet you are suing her over $10 USD worth of tracks that she did not even download; just let it go.
Result for: federal judge
A federal judge has denied Microsoft’s appeal in one of five patent cases brought against it by Alcatel-Lucent and says the software giant will have to pay $511.6 million USD in damages and interest.
In April a jury awarded Lucent $357.7 million USD and Microsoft had asked the judge to reconsider the award. Judge Marilyn L. Huff denied that request however and increased the damages payable. She said the new amount accounts for “prejudgment interest to compensate for how long it took to resolve the matter.”
“We are disappointed that Judge Huff denied our request for a new trial,” said Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster, in an e-mailed statement. “We plan to appeal the rulings against us. We are confident that the damages award against Microsoft will not be sustained on appeal.”
“We had always believed we had a strong case and are pleased that the judge agreed that the jury’s thoughtful verdict was well reasoned and supported by the evidence presented during the more than monthlong trial on these two patents,” said Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Mary Lou Ambrus in an e-mailed statement.
Alcatel-Lucent had filed five suits against Microsoft in 2003, over a plethora of different patents and has so far won most of the cases, with huge multi-million dollar damages awards as well.
