A federal judge on Friday slashed by 90 percent the damages a jury awarded the recording industry in a lawsuit against a  university student caught file-sharing. The judge declared the original $675,000 award as “unconstitutionally excessive.” U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner reduced last year’s verdict to $67,500, or $2,250 for each of the 30 tracks defendant Joel Tenenbaum unlawfully downloaded and shared on Kazaa. The... 

Thomas-Rasset testifying during her first 2007 trial. The nation’s first file sharing copyright infringement trial has morphed into a legal Groundhog Day. In a bid to avoid a third trial — after two mistrials — the Minnesota federal judge presiding over the 4-year-old Jammie Thomas-Rasset case wants the Recording Industry Association of American and the defendant to negotiate a settlement . But, as Thomas-Rasset’s attorney,... 

Provocative website p2pnet.net, the online voice to one of the world’s most blistering and perpetual attacks on the Recording Industry Association of America, is shuttering amid financial doldrums. It was 9 years old. “I can’t claim p2pnet has been protecting the world, but I’ve done my best to unspin some of the vested interest corporate spin, and expose a few of the lies and corruption,” the site’s voice... 

The recording industry is demanding Jammie Thomas-Rasset pay $25,000 to settle out of court the nation’s first file sharing case against an individual to have gone to trial –- a settlement offer the Minnesota mother of four is rejecting, lawyers in the case said Wednesday. The development came days after the federal judge in the case reduced to $54,000 a jury’s June finding …  Read More →

A federal judge on Friday reduced a $1.92 million file sharing verdict to $54,000 after concluding the award for infringing 24 songs was “shocking.” A federal jury in June found Jammie Thomas-Rasset liable in what at the time was the nation’s only Recording Industry Association of America file-sharing case against an individual to go to trial. The Minnesota federal jury dinged her $1.92 million for infringing 24 songs . She asked... 

A federal judge on Friday reduced a $1.92 million file sharing verdict to $54,000 after concluding the award for infringing 24 songs was “shocking.” A federal jury in June found Jammie Thomas-Rasset liable in what at the time was the nation’s only Recording Industry Association of America file sharing case against an individual to go to trial. The Minnesota federal jury dinged her $1.92 million for infringing 24 songs . She asked...