Another post in the criminal vein, this time about pirating movies on the internet versus just stealing a DVD. Apparently somebody has done some basic comparison (which is probably done without a shred of legal counsel or referral, by the way) on the penalties of those two crimes.
| Stealing | Infringing | |
| Absolute Minimum |
$0 no jail |
$4,400 |
| Absolute Maximum |
$100,000 1 year jail |
$3,400,000 1 year jail lawyer fees and costs |
| Real World Example |
Winona Ryder*: $2,700 fine $6,355 restitution $1,000 court cost 3 years probation |
An Average RIAA settlement**: $14,875 |
***Reprinted from Boing Boing without permission, as usual.
That’s pretty interesting stuff, and it really makes no sense in my brain. For one thing, why is stealing a digital version from the internet so much worse? In fact the penalty is potentially over 30 times worse. Do the studios lose more from a single download than a single DVD? Unlikely, you could steal a DVD and put it on the internet in a snap. Anyway, fun stuff, maybe some judge will realize this someday. I wouldn’t count on it, but maybe.