The news today has been full of the story of the US mum who’s been found guilty of file-sharing. She has been ordered to pay $1.9 million (£1.2m) in the only file-sharing case to go to trial in the US.
To me the fine seems to be so out of this world, I understand she’s done wrong and needs to pay a punishment, but I don’t understand why it is $1.9 million, that does seem excessive, and she’ll never be able to pay it.
Jammie Thomas-Rasset, 32, mother of four from Minnesota was accused of illegally sharing 24 songs from artists including Sheryl Crow and Green Day.
Outside the courtroom Thomas-Rasset said the damages were “ridiculous”.
A spokeswoman for the Recording Industry Association of America said the companies were willing to settle out of court for a much smaller amount.
Most people targeted by the music industry had settled for around £1,500 each.
Record companies accused Thomas-Rasset of uploading 1,700 songs to the Kazaa file-sharing site before it became a legal service.
