To our knowledge, this is the first time that sharing files on BitTorrent has been viewed as counterfeiting, a description that's usually reserved for fake goods sold as the real deal.

I don't count this as precedent because it's a default judgment.

For the copyright violations Carpenter has to pay $5,000 in damages plus another $2,000 for the counterfeiting. This is relatively mild compared to the allowed maximum statutory damages of $150,000 Wiley asked for.

The judges in the RIAA trials would have awarded similar amounts if the plaintiffs had not chosen a jury trial. I suppose there's no jury trial after default.

well it looks like I know what books to avoid the next time I'm in a bookstore

/never read any of those books anyway
//I refuse to buy from companies that sue people for sharing their products

To make that worse, wordpress for dummies is almost outdated the moment it's printed usually. That being said, loving v 3.4's theme options preview abilities

ZAZ: I don't count this as precedent because it's a default judgment.

That. This has no legal weight anywhere except for this one specific case.

Should have read Copyright and Trademark Laws for Dummies, available everywhere.

Waaaaaa! It's my right to share/steal music or books. No one pays for content anymore -- that's soooo 1995.

And it's not like someone had to invest their time and talents to make music/books/movies/news stories. All that stuff is created by multi-millionaire unicorns, not your next-door neighbor who has a mortgage to pay.

/Thinks all copyright violators/pirates should get the maximum fine.
/Sorry, but uploading/downloading to a torrent doesn't count as "fair use," and y'all F-in know it.

Catsaregreen: /Thinks all copyright violators/pirates should get the maximum fine.

When the penalty amounts to more than the national debt, there's a problem.

I agree with you, in principle, but I think the penalties have gotten completely out of hand. Something like retail cost + legal costs would be far more equitable. Or 2x retail cost, make it punitive(as if paying the legal fees aren't punitive enough). Whatever. $150k per infringement is an obscenity.

ModernPrimitive01: well it looks like I know what books to avoid the next time I'm in a bookstore

/never read any of those books anyway
//I refuse to buy from companies that sue people for sharing their products

good thing SOME people pay for things, or you'd have nothing to steal.