It reportedly cost the music industry $80 million yet the convicted get what could be considered a slap on the wrist ?

From ABC News Online
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s991935.htm

Two Sydney University students have received suspended jail terms after being convicted in Australia's first Internet music piracy case.

In the 12 months that the music website, MP3/WMA Land was running, about 7 million people used it to download nearly 400 CDs and 1,800 music tracks

The two university students who created the website, Charles Ng, 20, and Peter Tran, 19, have been sentenced for their crimes.

Both have received 18-month suspended jail terms, while Tran has been fined $5,000, and Ng has been ordered to serve 200 hours community service.

A third man, Tommy Le, will also serve 200 hours community service for being an accessory to the crime.

All three had pleaded guilty to the charges in the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney.

The court had earlier been urged not to send the three to jail, with Ng's lawyer saying his client was a scavenger and was not out to break the back of the music industry.

Outside the court, Tran offered this warning.

"I strongly discourage anyone else from doing this as well," he said.

The music industry estimates the crime has cost it more than $80 million.

Its spokesman Michael Speck says the punishment is grossly inadequate.

"I just wonder how much music you have to steal in Australia before you go to jail."

Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has welcomed the convictions.

He says the sentences prove recent changes to the law regarding Internet and digital technology are working.

"What it's shown is that evidence can be maintained, substantiating that there was an offence against the law," he said.

"A conviction resulted and penalties have now been imposed so that would suggest to me that the law is working as intended."

.....and 30 lashes with wet CD liner notes from downloaded artists

Funny; according to the morning news shows here that $80 million figure jumped to $200 million?

They were also interviewing one of the top dogs of the ARIA, and he was huffing and puffing about the injustice of it all. There was no mention of their side of the story, or discussion about the current debate going on. Richard Wilkins did drop the question "But aren't they just kids trying to create something using the music style that's on the periphery anyway?", or words to that effect. I can't remember what the answer was. The next item was a story about raising money for the cancer wing of a local hospital which put everything into perspective nicely.

The guy came across as a pimp to me; kept blustering about this $200 million figure. I'm pretty sure those three kids hadn't pocketed $200 million.

What about this Conrad Black guy in London who obtained $45 million in bonuses that weren't authorised by the boards he was sitting on. His punishment was to agreed to step down from those boards.

I didn't see any of it on TV, but $200 million Australian is about $80 million US, so it could be a currency conversion thing.
~zippy