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Teachers: Citizenship: Legal rights

Last Updated: Wednesday June 22 2005 16:25 GMT

Worksheet: Download girl gets mum in trouble

Kids on a computer
A mum who doesn't know anything about computers is facing a £4,000 fine and a jail term because her 14-year-old daughter illegally downloaded music.

Sylvia Price, 53, of Cheltenham, got a letter from solicitors working for several record labels demanding £2,500. If she doesn't pay up by 1 July, it goes up to £4,000 and she faces jail.

Her daughter Emily admits downloading 1,400 songs, but says she didn't know she was breaking the law. Her mum must pay up as she's the net account holder.

The music industry reckons illegal downloading costs £2.3bn a year in lost sales. However, music can be downloaded legally from certain sites.

As part of a crackdown, solicitors have been sending out letters to people who have done a lot of illegal downloading.

"I don't know where I'm going to get the money from," said Mrs Price. "I don't even know how to use a computer."

Questions:

1. What did Emily do to break the law?

2. What is the punishment?

3. Why is her mum facing the punishment?

4. Do you think this is fair?




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