

Judge calls music biz request for $75 trillion in Limewire damages 'absurd' - anigbrowl
http://www.law.com/jsp/cc/PubArticleCC.jsp?id=1202486102650&Manhattan_Federal_Judge_Kimba_Wood_Calls_Record_Companies_Request_for__Trillion_in_Damages_Absurd_in_Lime_Wire_Copyright_Case

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_delirium
This seems poorly thought out on the plaintiffs' part in terms of strategy.
It's actually one of the standard arguments against the absurd way piracy
damages are calculated: opponents point out that if we extrapolate to the
amount of total piracy that takes place, the amount of damages being
supposedly caused are in excess of the world's total GDP, which clearly can't
be right. This case is a bit different, because it's statutory damages, so the
plaintiffs aren't claiming they _actually_ suffered $75 trillion in lost
sales, which would be even sillier. But it still treads a bit closer to the
kind of reductio ad absurdum that their opponents use than I would think the
plaintiffs would want.

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slavak
Isn't the whole point of damages to provide compensation for damage the
plaintiff incurred as a result of the defendant's actions?

You've got to have a pretty huge set of balls to demand damages in an amount
exceeding what your whole industry has made in the entire history of its
existence.

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coderdude
They have huge balls for demanding damages that exceed what anyone has ever
earned in any industry in the entire history of commerce.

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pedrocr
According to this:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_by_revenue>

The biggest oil and gas companies add up to 3.4T$ in yearly revenue.
Considering they've been going for a century at least it seems feasible that
they've surpassed the 75T$ mark in total.

So if you owned a monopoly on the most lucrative industry on earth maybe you
could actually pay off the music industry in 300 years or so[1]...

[1] at Exxon Mobil's 9% net profit margin -
<http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AXOM>

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xiaoma
The GDP of the entire US is only $14 trillion. The entire world's GDP is $58
trillion. Even if Limewire somehow dominated the entire world and took
_everything_ for a year, it still couldn't pay!

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iwwr
It's still legitimate to _request_ the full payment of damages, if they occur.
Barring, of course, the absurdity of the whole situation. That is, a single
individual or organization can cause damages much higher than they can later
repay.

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joeybaker
We can all agree that $75T is a ridiculous number, so what's the legal
strategy? The music industry may be in technology denial, but surely, they're
not detached from reality.

Is there a good legal precedent for asking for so much? Is it just a bartering
tactic?

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duskwuff
> We can all agree that $75T is a ridiculous number, so what's the legal
> strategy?

\- Mommy, can I have a pony!

\-- No, of course not!

\- Then can I at least have a puppy?

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robryan
Is their much money there to get their hands on? Seems like the kind of thing
that will probably cost more for lawyers than they will ever recover seeing
that limewire has disappeared into obscurity.

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dablya
Can the judge set payment terms? I mean could he find Limewire guilty and set
the terms of payment to 1c a year for 75 bazillion years?

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kgrin
She, in this case.

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moblivu
Either the LimeWire guys are laughing or freaking out, either way that is just
plain ridiculous!

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michaelty
Exhibit #123456789 of why the current copyright regime needs to be overhauled.

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smokeyj
Dr.Evil is that you?

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boboblong
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z-AxgueBRk&feature=relat...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z-AxgueBRk&feature=related)

