RIAA Verdict: P2P File Sharer Liable, $222,000 in Damages : Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech
RIAA Verdict: P2P File Sharer Liable, $222,000 in Damages
Thu Oct 4, 2007 10:55PM EDT
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As promised, it was a short trial. And the verdict is in: Jammie Thomas is guilty of copyright infringement and now owes the record industry $222,000, quite a bit less than the millions she could have been found liable for, but certainly enough to likely bankrupt the single mother.
The jury assigned a value of $9,250 to each infringed recording. No one is sure how that number was reached.
I can't say I'm not disappointed. Not because Thomas wasn't guilty; she certainly went out of her way to appear so (potentially handing over the wrong hard drive to the RIAA for examination), and her legal team's defense was atrocious to the point of being nonexistant (relying exclusively on the idea that some hacker might have used her usual user name and her computer without her knowledge). Rather, I'm upset because this will do nothing but encourage the RIAA to continue its strongarm tactics, which it will probably step up now that it has a legal precedent to back up its Gestapo-class threats.
Thomas's case is merely the first, however, to make it to trial. There will certainly be others (though probably fewer, as more will settle now that the RIAA has established a real track record in court) and hopefully some of them will have lawyers with a better grasp on the complicated issues here.
One thing is certain: Watch for more RIAA fearmongering in the coming months. Hey, it's almost Halloween.