By Nick Woolsey
SEPTEMBER 11, 2000 --NEW YORK-- Rowan Thoreau, perhaps better known
by his pseudonym, Captain Kidd, has been found guilty in the largest-to-date
music piracy lawsuit filed against an individual. The conviction is
part of an entertainment industry backed initiative to make an example
of "particularly contentious individual DMCA violators."
According to several close friends, Mr. Thoreau believed he was engaged
in some kind of "spiritual event," which included systematically
downloading 89,000 "culturally significant" songs, complete
with lyrics, via Internet utilities such as Napster and Gnutella. The
downloading took place over a four-month period, which Mr. Thoreau spent
isolated in his small, dark, basement apartment in Harlem's crime infested
Lower East Side.
"As I dove into my study of our art and culture, I became aware
that something spiritually significant was happening to me," Mr.
Thoreau stated during a brief interview, an aura of peace, serenity,
and cosmic humour radiating from his inner core. "I began researching
the history of the songs… trying to understand what was being said,
the social climate at the time, and why the music was affecting its
audiences… I started seeing the music as one voice; the voice of
humanity singing to itself… trying to teach us life's mysteries…
trying to explain that there is more to life than we're taught to believe…"
Many free-culture advocates are saying that Mr. Thoreau may be onto
something, especially after the cessation of racial hatred throughout
inner-city New York following his "I understand your pain" speech. Others disagree. Cary Sherman, senior vice president of the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), contests that what
Mr. Thoreau did was stealing, and that stealing is wrong.
"Mr. Thoreau downloaded $244,000 worth of copyrighted music off
the Internet," she stated, bluntly. "That's $244,000 directly
out of the pockets of the music labels and artists. If Mr. Thoreau had
spent that money on legitimate copies of music, a whole lot of artists
would be one more dollar out of debt [to the music industry]."
Upon hearing Ms. Sherman's comments, several members of the recently
formed Church of Musical Insight, who held nightly candlelight services
outside the courthouse during the trial, were quick to point out that "His Musical Holiness" had given his meagre savings to artists
via online tipping system Fairtunes.com.
"Petty pittances don't make up for stealing," replied Ms.
Sherman.
Judge Luis Cambel, who presided over the trial, says he had no choice
but to charge Mr. Thoreau with 89,000 counts of copyright infringement,
totalling $789,000,000 in fines, or, upon failure to pay, four life
sentences in prison. The notoriously stoic Cambel remained unmoved when
Mr. Thoreau sang his eloquent acceptance of the guilty verdict. Several
other members of the court were more affected, stepping down from their
positions the following day with the statement, "The highest point
we could now reach is the feet of Mr. Thoreau's prison bed."
The judge and all thirty-two prosecuting attorneys made it clear that
this case was intended to send a clear message to the Internet community,
music fans, and all future prophets.
"The metaphysical progress of individuals and society as a whole
cannot, and will not, be used to subvert intellectual property laws,"
they wrote. "The hand of the law is firm in this spiritual manifestation
of mankind, and it will be firm in the next."
The RIAA is currently lobbying to have Mr. Thoreau placed in solitary
confinement for allegedly leading his fellow inmates in a copyright-violating
round of "Give peace a chance."
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