A 12 year-old was among the hundreds sued by the Recording Industry Association of America, a music industry lobbyist group, for illegally downloading music. The girl was surprised when she found out that she was among the hundreds sued by the group. A representation of the RIAA said that they have no knowledge of the personal circumstances of the persons sued. They said that nobody wants to result to lawsuit, but if you’re products are being stolen on a regular basis drastic action must be taken. The girl raises as a defense that they paid a service fee for service, and that she doesn’t have any idea that downloading was illegal. If we apply Philippine law to the situation of this girl, we could argue that children under 15 years old are presumed to have acted without discernment, that is, without criminal intent. Therefore, she could escape liability.
On another note, this drastic action taken by the RIAA was undoubtedly meant to have a chilling effect on violators. However, I'm sure that they cannot sustain this course of action. It is not cost effective to keep filing suits against people who cannot pay the damages later on. The RIAA should invest instead on new technologies that can prevent copyright infringement.
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