Jesse Jordan and the RPI system
RPI = Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed a lawsuit against him for copyright infringement because he tinkered with the code for RPI's site's search engine, making it easier to access content, which he did not create or post. For this "willful infringement," they demanded he pay a fine of $15,000,000 (48-50). Two other students faced similar lawsuits from RIAA.
"If you added up the claims, these four lawsuits were asking courts in the United States to award the plaintiffs close to $100 billion—six times the total profit of the film industry in 2001... [the RIAA] demanded $12,000 to dismiss the case" or in other words, Jesse's entire savings (51).
"The recording industry insists this is a matter of law and morality. Let’s put the law aside for a moment and think about the morality. Where is the morality in a lawsuit like this? What is the virtue in scapegoatism? The RIAA is an extraordinarily powerful lobby. The president of the RIAA is reported to make more than $1 million a year. Artists, on the other hand, are not well paid. The average recording artist makes $45,900. There are plenty of ways for the RIAA to affect and direct policy. So where is the morality in taking money from a student for running a search engine?" (52).
Now Jesse is an activist. He's trying to set the record straight, and point out the absurdity in the RIAA's actions.
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