9-year-old girl's home raided for piracy, Winnie The Pooh laptop confiscated

In the Spring of 2012 a 9-year-old Finnish girl attempted to download a song from the torrent network known as The Pirate Bay. This triggered a series of events that would lead to an altercation with police at the family home.

CIAPC is a form of European anti-piracy legislation. Many argue it is an infringement upon personal privacy, and that the information gathered in the name of protecting intellectual property could be used for nefarious purposes.

One aspect of CIAPC is that it allows copyright holders to contact those who infringe on their property and offer them the opportunity to pay a cash settlement rather than getting law enforcement involved. That is what happened in this case.

Authorities in charge of stopping copyright infringement found that an illegal download originated from a private home in Finland. The home owners were mailed an official letter offering a $600 settlement, which was declined.

The girl's father, who was not named, said his daughter attempted to download a song from the popular artist, Chisu. He claims the attempted songs did not work on his computer, and he went to the store the following day to buy his daughter Chisu's CD. This mattered not to the authorities who claim a violation is downloading the item, not using it, and it is irrelevant if the music worked on their particular format or not.

Chisu has faced huge scrutiny over this, as is evidenced by their Facebook page. It was reported by torrentfreak.com that Chisu said they don't want to sue anyone and that no artist needs this kind of media attention. In a recent statement they apologized:

I hope that the matter will be resolved soon and sorry to my 9-year-old girls.

The artist's feelings were not considered or even asked for before police served the search warrant and ransacked the family's home. The father claims that police were quite hostile with him and said:

It would have been easier for all concerned if you had paid the compensation.

As such the police confiscated all of the computer equipment in the home, including the young girl's Winnie The Pooh laptop. Charges are currently pending against the family.

So far it has been reported that least 28 people have paid the requested settlement for copyright infringement. There, however, may be much more because there is a clause in the settlement which calls for all parties to be gagged from speaking on the matter in public.

Isn't technology grand?

Article originally published in my now discontinued column on Examiner.com on November 25, 2012.