You Need to Settle Immediately? Oh, No!

Maybe I should title this blog post as "How would you feel if you receive a letter like this?"

"The reason we are sending this letter to you in advance of filing suit is to give you the opportunity to settle these claims as early as possible. If you contact us within the next twenty (20) calendar days, we will offer to settle the claims for a significantly reduced amount compared to what we will offer to settle them for after we file suit or compared to the judgment amount a court may enter against you. If you are interested in resolving this matter now, please contact our Settlement Information Line at 913-234-8181 or, alternatively, you may settle this matter immediately online at www.p2plawsuits.com, using the Case ID# that appears at the top of this letter."

Imagine receiving the same kind of letter from a law firm warning you that you need to settle immediately due to copyright law violation! And imagine the letter further states that if you want to significantly reduce the judgment, you only have so many days to do the settlement? Good grief! What's happening here?

Perhaps you might react with consternation and outrage. Music that you have downloaded from LimeWire or some other music source in the internet were supposed to serve the broad public with the so-called "instant gratification type of entertainment" and it is supposed to be free as far as you know. So, how could this happen that you are now in possession of such a letter? How are you going to fight it? You feel a massive sense of betrayal with respect to the modernities of computer technology and your freedom to download. Was it your right to obtain those pieces of music that you now have in your tiny mp3 music carrying equipment. You are the one who downloaded those songs in the first place. So they must be yours!

Dilemma-causing situations like this have arisen lately due to thousands of letters received by a great many students who downloaded music at home or in their dorms. They are now facing a possibility of suits against them in the Federal court. Should our freedom to download music be restrained? What are you going to do in case you are this situation?

http://fire.csumb.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=%2Fbin%2Fcommon%2Fcourse.pl%3Fcourse_id%3D_7922_1