TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Hollywood Offers to Cut a Deal With Grandpa Getting Sued

Hollywood Offers to Cut a Deal With Grandpa Getting Sued

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal (jsonline@jsonline.com)
Fri, 4 Nov 2005 11:07:51 -0600

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You may recall our main story in
yesterday's issue of the Digest was about a man being sued on account
of some movies downloaded onto computer by his 12-year old grandson.
The stink got pretty awful, so MPAA contacted grandpa on the phone
late Wednesday and offered what they termed a 'generous offer'. PAT]

A man sued by the film industry after his teen grandson downloaded
four movies on the family's computer has been offered a chance to
settle the case by paying $4,000 in installments.

The Motion Picture Association of America filed a federal lawsuit
Tuesday against Fred Lawrence of Racine, seeking as much as $600,000
in damages for downloading four movies over the Internet file-sharing
service iMesh.

An attorney for the Motion Picture Association of America called Lawrence
late Wednesday, telling him the lawsuit would be dropped if he paid $4,000,
Lawrence said.

The MPAA said it would let Lawrence pay the amount in monthly payments
over a year to 18 months, he said.

The deal is about the same one offered Lawrence in March, which he
ignored, except it allows him to pay in installments.

"I don't want to sound like a smart aleck, but $4,000 might as well be
a $1 million," Lawrence said. "We are budgeted. We have a fixed
income. I don't have even an extra $250 a month."

Lawrence, a former employee of Snap-on Inc. and seasonal worker for
the City of Racine, said he is still trying to find an attorney to
defend him in the suit.

Lawrence said he didn't even know what file sharing was.

Lawrence was one of several people the MPAA contacted this year who
were offered an out-of-court settlement. Those who declined or didn't
respond including Lawrence, now face individual lawsuits.

A message left at the association Friday by The Associated Press was
not immediately returned.

Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com

Copyright 2005 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: David Clayton: "Re: Grandpa Gets Sued Over Grandson's Downloads From Net"
Go to Previous message: John McHarry: "Re: Do We Go Overboard for Halloween?"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page