The most loved organization in the world, the RIAA, has won a case against a New York family for illegally downloading music. The case was originally filed against Patricia Santangelo, 46, a mother of five, who resides in Wappingers Falls, N.Y but was later dropped and re-filled against her two sons.
Rather than taking the settlement agreement the two sons and mother decided to fight the RIAA and nearly $15,000 was raised by online sympathizers to help fight the industry. The result, nearly 4 years later, is that the family will have to pay $7000.00 for songs downloaded that included ""MMMBop" by Hanson and "Beat It" by Michael Jackson.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the Santangelos," Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the R.I.A.A., said in an e-mailed statement. Asked how much had been spent to win the $7,000 settlement, and whether it was a victory, she said, "We don"t break out costs per case, and it"s not a question of it being "worth it" or a "victory." "
The family decided to agree to the $7000 amount because the two sons are now in college and they need to control their costs as lawyer fees probably exceeded the 15,000 in donations.