Ignorance is an excuse now?

[richtermom]

An "internet-illiterate" mom is charged with downloading a buttload of music via Kazaa, but she claims she doesn't know Kazaa from a kazoo, and many of her supporters predict her victory in this case. She's defending herself after spending $24000 on a lawyer

Comments

[anavolena]

in a couple of web searches this article spurred me into, i discovered that in california, at least, the District Attorney is warning parents that they can be held responsible for their child's online crime, and specifically mentions music downloads.

luckily, i can muse in an academic way about the way our culture can't make up its mind about whether and when parents are liable for the actions of their children. i suspect it stems from the desire to have black and white answers, when this is an issue that is utterly grey.

[richtermom]

I guess I disagree that it's utterly grey. If a kid is playing outside and he throws a rock, the kid and/or the parents are usually supposed to make reparations for the broken window, etc. If a kid goes to the mall and shoplifts, the parent then has to be responsible and pay bail for the kid or pay whatever fines or whatever. If a kid goes to a friend's house and plays with a gun belonging to the friend's parents, and someone ends up injured, it's still a crime and the parent is expected to help the kid through it -- legal representation, etc. And if a kid steals the parent's credit card and buys stuff, there's still responsibility there too. I realize that I'm not as head-in-the-sand as some parents, but the internet can cause real financial damages; how can someone claim otherwise just because they didn't *watch* their kid

[anavolena]

i agree with you in principle, and as i stated, my thoughts are definitely more theoretical than practical.

i don't have a lot of empathy for the "i didn't know what they were doing" defense. i was 11 when my parents first consented to let me see a PG movie without them prescreening it. and that was time bandits. and my mother went with. she still seethes about the family friends who let me see "Alien" when i was like 9, without her permission.

[richtermom]

Re-reading about the parents being responsible for kids' actions, I guess the alternative would be to make the KID responsible for it -- the kid should have known that he wasn't paying for the music, and I believe the downloads were from after the time the media got ahold of the story in general. Either the parent or the kid should be held responsible, but feigning ignorance shouldn't just eliminate responsibility.

[mayna]

If the kid was listening to the music on an Ipod, the parent should've been aware of that and asked where that music came from? Or the parent is just playing stupid. My sister downloads music (I don't know where from) and admits it, and my mom apparently doesn't seem to care.