675,000 dollar fine for illegal downloads of 30 songs

S

SmarterthanYou

rebel
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...675g-fine-for-illegally-downloading-30-songs/

The Supreme Court won't reduce the $675,000 verdict against a Boston University student who illegally downloaded 30 songs and shared them on the Internet.

The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Joel Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., who was successfully sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegally sharing music on peer-to-peer networks. In 2009, a jury ordered Tenenbaum to pay $675,000, or $22,500 for each song he illegally downloaded and shared.

A federal judge called that unconstitutionally excessive, but the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the penalty at the request of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Brothers Records Inc. and other record labels represented by the RIAA.
 
Insane.

For those keeping score at home, the Supreme Court thought a punitive damage award of $2.5 billion against Exxon in connection with the Valdez oil spill, roughly half of Exxon's annual profit at the time, was too excessive because it said so while a $650,000 judgment against a college student fro sharing 30 songs is not.

Unreal.

That kid should file for bankruptcy today.
 
Frickin' land of the free, my man... land of the free. Gotta keep those "artists" in money, even though it isn't the artist that gets any of that money.
 
The Dude said:
Dumberthanmany, stealing is bad!
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yes it is, but how is it that judicial precedent dictates that no punitive damages may be such an amount that it bankrupts a business that committed a crime, but it's perfectly fine to indemnify an individual for the rest of his natural life for doing the same? answer us that, dumbdude.
 
SmarterthanYou said:
yes it is, but how is it that judicial precedent dictates that no punitive damages may be such an amount that it bankrupts a business that committed a crime, but it's perfectly fine to indemnify an individual for the rest of his natural life for doing the same? answer us that, dumbdude.
Click to expand...

This isn't the first or last thief caught stealing online! Many more will pay!
 
There was a case a couple years ago where dozens had to pay many thousands for stealing downloads. There will be many more cause, digital theft is easy to prove.
 
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