The Bush administration careened into a new terror front Monday when it urged a federal judge to punish Jammie Thomas -- the nation's first music pirate to go before a jury -- in a bid to deter others from plundering the treasuries of the world's record labels.
In October, a Duluth, Minnesota federal jury dinged Thomas $222,000, or $9,250 for each of the 24 songs she unlawfully made available on the Kazaa file-sharing program. The Recording Industry Association of America, the industry trade group representing the world's biggest music concerns, has sued more than 20,000 people, including Thomas, on accusations of copyright infringement.
Most defendants settle for about $3,000. Thomas, the 31-year-old single mother of two, was the first to go to trial and faced a minimum $750 per violated song, to a maximum $150,000 a track.
In a court filing, (.pdf) the administration demanded U.S. District Judge Michael Davis to uphold the damages award set by a jury which concluded the penalty and her liability in just hours of deliberations.
"In establishing that range, Congress also took into account the need to deter the millions of users of new media from infringing copyrights in an environment where many violators believe they will go unnoticed," the administration wrote.
The filing was no friend-of-the-court brief. Instead, the Bush administration moved (.pdf) to intervene in the case "to defend the constitutionality of the statutory damages provision of the Copyright Act."
Thomas maintains the award is unconstitutionally excessive and has sought a reduction and/or a new trial. A ruling is pending.
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