What are the penalties for unlicensed downloads?
The penalties for unlicensed copying vary greatly from country to country and a lot seems to depend on the exact details of the case. In the United States the Recording Industry Association of America starts by sending people it accuses of unlicensed copying a letter asking for money to settle the case out of court. If they do not pay then it will start proceedings. The RIAA asks for damages of $750 for every song uploaded from a file sharer’s computer, while in October 2007 Jammie Thomas was fined $220,000 by a US court – although she has appealed. In some countries, like the US and the UK, the law treats commercial and non-commercial copying very differently and if you are charging money for making copies or running a server then you could face criminal charges and even be sent to prison.
