File-sharer's huge fine slammed

A fine of $220,000 (about £110,000) handed out by a US court to a woman found guilty of sharing copyrighted content online has been slammed.

Mark Mulligan, an analyst at Jupiter Research specialising in the digital music industry has questioned the size of the fine and whether it fairly reflects the damage done to the industry.

"I understand why the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) pushed for such a large fine: they wanted to establish a deterrent for other defendants who might wish to challenge the fines. But the fine is out of proportion with the act," he said.

Mulligan questioned whether the actions of the offender, who had made several tracks available to be shared overe a peer-to-peer network, were as destructive to the recording industry as the size of the fine indicated.

"Unless the defendant had uploaded rare music not available elsewhere or she was the first to upload the tracks, it would be impossible to prove what impact her uploaded tracks had versus the others on the network,"

The case against Jammie Thomas, a 32-year old single mother from Minnesota, was brought by the RIAA. In the past, similar cases have not made it to the courthouse, with those accused of file-sharing generally opting to settle out of court.

However, Ms Thomas chose to fight the lawsuit but ended up with a massive fine.

www.riia.com
www.jupiterresearch.com

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