Australian file-share ops sentenced
The very best efforts of the RIAA’s (Recording Industry Association of Amertica) Australian clone notwithstanding, the three students who operated a p2p file-sharing site called MP3 WMA Land have escaped jail time.
Instead, the three were each sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for three years on a AU$1,000 good behaviour bond.
Michael Michael Speck, the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association enforcer) called the decisions not to incarcerate the three, Charles Ng, Peter Tran and Tommy Le "curious," says James Pearce at ZDNet Australia here.
"Deputy chief magistrate Graeme Henson told a packed court room at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney this afternoon that the lack of monetary gain by the defendants, the youthfulness of the accused and the early plea of guilty were factors in suspending the custodial sentence," says the report, going on:
"The counsel for Ng, Chris Levingston, earlier told the court that Ng’s crime was ‘committed in plain sight. ‘This is a crime which is extremely common, relatively hard to detect, and with substantial penalties for people who engage in this activity,’ said Levingston. ‘Mr Ng was a scavenger, he was not a person who set out to break the back of the music industry.’ Ng was contrite, and eager to recommend to people considering activities similar to his to refrain from doing so, said Levingston.
"The counsel for Tran, Michael Burke of Marsdens Law Group, earlier told the court there were strong prospects for rehabilitation, and emphasis should be placed on that. Burke also pointed out that Tran is 19 years old, and was legally a minor when the illegal activity began two years ago. ‘This was no exercise to gain profit from the music industry," said Burke.
"Tommy Le, who had created compilation albums and distributed them on the MP3 WMA Land Web site ? and for whom the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecution (CDPP) had not sought a custodial sentence ? was sentenced to 200 hours community service. For aiding and abetting him in this Ng was also sentenced to 200 hours community service. Tran, who had entered a medical certificate indicating he was medically unfit for such service, was fined AU$5,000 and placed on a AU$1,000 good behaviour bond for three years."
Immedia’s Phil Tripp, who yesterday released the results of a survey saying it’s time to change the law to allow Australians to copy their own music, says the seriousness of the crime is such, "that a suspended sentence is a slap in the face of the industry and a slap on the wrist for the defendants".
