Jaikumar Vijayan reports:
A federal judge’s decision today to substantially lower the damages in a music piracy case involving Minnesota native Jammie Thomas-Rasset should come as no surprise, considering the massive size of the original $1.9 million jury award against her.
But even the reduced amount of $54,000 is huge and is likely substantially higher than what the court would have awarded on its own discretion if a jury had not been allowed to determine the damages, said Ray Beckerman, a New York-based lawyer who has handled several music piracy lawsuits.
Read more in Computerworld.
Greg Sandoval of CNET, who also provides coverage, writes:
The music industry never wanted to take Thomas-Rasset to a trial, but when she refused to settle, the music industry had to show that the courts considered the downloading of music without paying for it illegal.
But here’s the rub. My sources say the music industry now wants the Thomas-Rasset story to go away. They don’t want to spend any more resources challenging Davis’ decision to lower the damages. RIAA executives have offered her settlement terms before, but look for new negotiations to get underway soon.