Fine reduced in file-sharing case
- Posted by: JP Smith | January 25, 2010
- Filed Under: Law and Order
You'll probably have to dig into you memory banks to recall Kazaa, the once wildly-popular file-sharing service. I can remember dowloading a few things, including my fair share of viruses, off of there, causing me to conclude that the risks far outweighed the "rewards".
It had to be two or three years later that I read about the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), targeting those who illegally shared music on Kazaa. I saw how people were being hit with astronomical fines for illegally sharing music and couldn't help but think that the punishment far outweighed the "crime".
One case that really stuck out was the case of Jammie Thomas-Rasset. Thomas-Rassett is a Minnesota woman who found to have shared 24 songs vie Kazaa. In her original case, she was fined $222,000. A mistrial was declared but, after the new trial, she was instead fined whopping $1.92 million.
Thomas-Rasset latest round in court has offered her some relief. Federal judge Michael Davis, calling the $1.92 million fine "monstrous and shocking" reduced her liability to $54,000. This is still a lot of money but, at least it's approaching the realm of the realistic.
Nonetheless, this is just one of thousands of cases involving RIAA fines. Regardless of how one feels about file-sharing, I believe that we should want legal remedies that are in line with the magnitude of the offenses. In this case, I believe this resolution is much closer to my belief on this issue.
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