Minnesota Mom Ordered to Pay $1.92MM for Illegal Downloads

June 19, 2009

Minnesota Mom Ordered to Pay $1.92 Million for Illegal Downloads
Source: Electronic House

A Brainerd, Minn., woman has to pay recording companies $80,000 per song for 24 titles that she downloaded from file-sharing sites like Kazaa.

Jammie Thomas-Rasset, 32, will owe a total of $1.92 million in damages.

Good luck with that.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press quotes the mother of four: “There’s no way they’re ever going to get that. … I’m a mom, limited means, so I’m not going to worry about it now.”

Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, suggests that the award could face constitutional challenges.

First, the Supreme Court has made it clear that “grossly excessive” punitive damage awards (e.g., $2 million award against BMW for selling a repainted BMW as “new") violate the Due Process clause of the U.S. Constitution. …

Second, recent Supreme Court rulings suggest that a jury may not award statutory damages for the express or implicit purpose of deterring other infringers who are not parties in the case before the court. In other words, the award should be aimed at deterring this defendant, not giving the plaintiff a windfall in order to send a message to others who might be tempted to infringe.

The lawsuit is one of the last vestiges of the recording industry’s anti-piracy campaign. The RIAA said last year that it would stop filing lawsuits like this and will focus on working with Internet service providers to stop illegal file-sharing.

EFF attorney Corryne McSherry says, “This case could end up being the tail end of a frankly shameful and certainly failed campaign to go after users.”

The award has garnered international attention. Check out the expanded coverage on the BBC: BBC Article