Unlawful DVD Ripping

The idea to shoplift a DVD is hardly the usual among lawful citizens in any country. But instead of shoplifting, many people consider it is as legal as it seems to download the same movie for free on the internet. In the end it is nothing else but the same. Since I’m going to write a test on Managers and the Law in about 50 minutes, I feel a certain urge to publish this info concerning the daily habit of almost every manager – downloading illegal music or video files from the internet. Karl Wagenfuehr researched the penalties for a) shoplifting a DVD in comparison to b) downloading one.

	Stealing	Infringing
Absolute Minimum	$0 no jail	$4,400
Absolute Maximum	$100,000 1 year jail	$3,400,000 1 year jail lawyer fees and costs
Real World Example	Winona Ryder: $2,700 fine $6,355 restitution $1,000 court cost 3 years probation	An Average RIAA settlement: $14,875

Reported here and here.

Tags: DVD, Manager, Law, Penalty, Shoplifting