The Other Side of RIAA: Single Mom Charged $1.5M in File-Sharing Suit
As posted today on paidContent, Jammie Thomas-Rasse, a single mother of 4 from Brainerd, Minnesota had sustained a $1.5M verdict against her filed by the RIAA for illegal P2P sharing of 24 songs. This verdict is the third one against her, as these provide 3 out of the 4 ever brought by jury on these grounds.
“Combined with a $675,000 verdict against Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum, the results suggest one of two things: either that Tenenbaum and Thomson-Rasset are just uniquely unsympathetic defendants, or that juries are pre-disposed to grant large awards in file-sharing trials.”
The truth is $1.5M lawsuits vs. single mothers and $675K ones vs. college students may one way or another for the RIAA to deter future file-sharers, but these ‘over reactions’ have a potential to induce an intervention by Congress as well as harden certain judges’ opposite take on the somewhat mind-blowing figures raised by the plaintiffs. These factors and many more including a conflicting public perception could swiftly disrupt the RIAA’s efforts, which is precisely why there is even a cold and text-book legal negation to the Tenenanbum and Thomson-Rasset cases and their alike.
$1.5M is a lot of money for most everyone, but despite of the Recording Industry Association’s eager attempts to find Jammie Thomson-Rasset liable as much as possible for her alleged wrong doings, the verdict is likely to be lowered by Judge Michael Davis; the same one who threw out the first verdict and drastically lowered the second one against the defendant.
This is merely the flip-side of a bloody battle taking place within the music industry. After Limewire was shut down, a number of groups attacked the RIAA for its influence in the matter. The tit-for-tat continues, with music lovers seeking Limewire alternatives for their purposes.
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