[LINK] music 'stealing' fine reduced from $2mil

[Jan Whitaker]

Judge Cuts $2 Million Penalty In Woman's Illegal 
Song-Sharing Case With RIAA (24 January 2010)
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/22/judge-cuts-2-million-pena_n_433903.html
  http://snipurl.com/u667o

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge on Friday 
drastically reduced a nearly $2 million verdict 
against a Minnesota woman found guilty last year 
of sharing 24 songs over the Internet, calling 
the jury's penalty "monstrous and shocking."

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis reduced the 
$1.92 million penalty a jury imposed against 
Jammie Thomas-Rasset of Brainerd to $2,250 per song, or about $54,000.

"The need for deterrence cannot justify a $2 
million verdict for stealing and illegally 
distributing 24 songs for the sole purpose of 
obtaining free music," Davis wrote.

Davis also denied Thomas-Rasset's request for a 
new trial. He gave the Recording Industry 
Association of America seven days to either 
accept the smaller penalty or to ask for another trial to set new damages.
[snip]


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