Court won't reduce student's music download fine

[shawn703]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court won't reduce the $675,000 verdict against a Boston University student who illegally downloaded 30 songs and shared them on the Internet.

The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Joel Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., who was successfully sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegally sharing music on peer-to-peer networks. In 2009, a jury ordered Tenenbaum to pay $675,000, or $22,500 for each song he illegally downloaded and shared.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_MUSIC_DOWNLOADING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[villager]

1. It's not like he's a Wall Street CEO crashing the economy -- then he'd be completely forgiven!

n/t

[coalition_unwilling]

4. And bailed out to boot - n/t

[katsy]

2. How can this person pay that fine?

What if he can't?

Prison? I mean he'll be a debt slave for most of his adult life, correct?

What he did was wrong. However, the punishment is an economic death sentence. Why not prison, let's say one week per song?

[RC]

3. They do that so their victims serve as warnings for others.

Justice, who the fuck cares anymore. The Recording Industry Association of America sure doesn't.

[Evasporque]

5. The kid is about to go public with "sharebook"

He is worth billions....

[Lionessa]

6. It's not a fine, per se. And judging by what happened to a friend who sued and won

a judgment against a company....they filed bankruptcy, never had to pay him a dime.

[hunter]

7. He'll quietly settle for $12.39, a Canadian penny, pocket lint, and a promise not to talk.

The RIAA will trumpet their $675,000 verdict far and wide, but they won't waste any effort keeping after this guy. Lawyers are expensive.

Or maybe the RIAA will be sneaky and sell it to those crooks on TV who aren't really in the business of collecting, but make their money duping moron investors who think bad paper like this is a good bet.

[mwooldri]

8. Most likely he can't pay the fine but he can file Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Chances are he's pretty much making no money anyway. Chapter 7 would also liquidate a lot of other debts (sadly student loans don't get liquidated). Any judgement placed against the student before the Chapter 7 filing took place - if the bankruptcy is granted then the RIAA would collect $0.

If he can't file Chapter 7, he can still file Chapter 13 - a debt paydown plan - where the RIAA would get something but nothing anywhere near the amount of money they were awarded in the judgement. Plus a Chapter 13 lasts a maximum of 5 years.

So the punishment is not an economic death sentence, but it would require more financial pain to in essence make the judgement toothless.

[Marrah_G]

9. If he was a billionaire who stole billions he wouldn't owe a thing

We are one fucked up country. They have just taken away any ability of him to ever have a life, no matter how hard he works.

[malthaussen]

10. I know! He should renounce his citizenship and move to Singapore!

n/t

[Egalitarian Thug]

11. K&R. Want to watch this one. n/t

[gratuitous]

12. Time to go all Sermon on the Mount on them

When Jesus was talking about turning the other cheek, handing over your shirt as well when sued for your jacket, and walking an extra mile when compelled by a soldier to walk one mile, he was talking about making a public statement about the oppressive use of force by those in power.

In that vein, Joel Tenenbaum should agree to pay the verdict, and send out an online public update of his personal finances every time he does so:

"This month, I earned $4,000. After paying taxes, covering my rent, food, clothing and utilities, I had $1,000 left. Of that I sent $500 to the RIAA on its judgment. Every penny of that went to accrued interest, and didn't touch the $675,000 principal amount, and the amount of the judgment against me is now $___________. At this rate, barring unforeseen catastrophic expenses, I will pay the RIAA $6,000 this year on a total income of $48,000, and will be more indebted to them than when the judgment was first entered against me. According to industry reports for the last available year, the RIAA made $X. Here are the estimated net worths of the 30 artists whose music I shared illegally: {List the artists and their net worth}."

[KamaAina]

13. More to the point: The net worths of the megacorporations whose music he shared illegally.

They, not Joel Tenenbaum, are the ones screwing artists. The RIAA just trots out the poor, starving artists as props.

[KamaAina]

14. This is why I cringe when I hear Hilary Rosen described as "a top Democratic operative"

or whatever it was during that spat with Mrs. Willard the Bully a few weeks ago.

With Dems like that, who needs repukes?

[kentauros]

15. Copyright mathematician to the rescue!

Or at least, that's what this kid should have gotten as a professional on his side.

[MrSlayer]

16. This is beyond idiotic.

Cruel and unusual punishment anyone?

[Downtown Hound]

17. Downright persecution.