Please Help Save Steve
 

Hello,

My name is Steve Schwartz, and I'm a junior at Columbia University studying political science and history. In my free time, I enjoy reading the news, jogging, and listening to music. However, listening to music (and my desire to share it with others) has gotten me into trouble. This was surprising to me, because ever since kindergarten, I was taught to share with others.

Okay, so I knew I wasn't supposed to be file-sharing, but like the millions across America who used to share their music, and those who still do, I never actually thought that downloading music would result in legal and financial consequences. But it has.

I recently discovered that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has threatened to file a lawsuit against me for file-sharing on a network of university students called i2hub (formerly at www.i2hub.com). The RIAA randomly chose 25 users from my school to punish and make examples to everyone else.

I worked every week of summer in 2005 (14 weeks) to contribute as best I could towards Columbia's $40,000 yearly tuition (including room and board). This coming summer, I will once again work every week. However, without your donations, this leaves me no earnings with which I can pay my college tuition.

This lawsuit has come as a great shock to me, and while a $3750 "fine" would even harm someone who is employed full-time, it's even worse for college students like me, who the RIAA is specifically targeting in this round of lawsuits. Mommy and Daddy are not bailing me out of this one.

I hate to surrender and settle because I'd love to stand up to the RIAA. Unfortunately, I just don't have the kind of money it would take to fight this in court.

I appreciate your donations of any amount, whether it's a penny, a dollar, ten dollars or even a hundred dollars or more. I hope that through your kindness, I will be able to recoup some of the $3750 that the RIAA is requiring me to pay them. If we show the RIAA that the general public supports the unlucky few who are being made examples for the rest, if we show that these lawsuits do not scare us into becoming the RIAA's customers, and if through our actions, we respond to these lawsuits by taking our music purchases elsewhere, to local and independent bands and record labels, maybe we can sweep the carpet out from under the beast.

Please click here to donate through my website. You can contribute any amount using this online secure shopping cart with any major credit card or instantly through any bank account. You don't even need a Paypal account.

Thanks again for your support and generosity in helping me through this ordeal.

Steve

Whilst it's damned unlucky, it is rather self inflicted.

We all know that there are risks.

Your parents not wanting to bail you out of this one shows that they think the same way.

I'm not exactly wealthy, but I take my chances like everyone else.

Life's like that.

LOL, :) . This is a first. Why is it your post reminds me of the emails I get from Nigeria telling me I have inherited $$$$.

sorry you got in trouble for UPLOADING copyrighted material but resorting to the RIAA inspired tactic of lying and misrepresenting the truth to try and garner sympathy is purely reprehensible.

the day someone gets in trouble for DOWNLOADING is the day i donate but you have gotten yourself in trouble by UPLOADING.

Sucks to be you.

To enjoy the benefits of downloading, there has to be someone else uploading - that's the nature of P2P. If this is what you've been caught doing (I think your photographed letter may have mentioned it... the picture cut off half the sentence), then I'm very sorry for you... but as has been mentioned, we all know the risks.

Small, private (and unadvertised) networks are the way to go.

Don't know why I bothered typing that.... it's not like he'll be popping in again.

So...