A federal jury in Minnesota ruled that Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the downloading-consumer poster child, must pay $80,000 per song for the 24 music files stored on her computer. That's $1.92 million, total.
After the judgement, Thomas-Rasset had an appropriate response:
As for Thomas-Rasset, she appeared shaken by the verdict but didn't blame the jury. "They did their job," she said, "I'm not going to hold it against them." She added, though, that the recording industry would never collect the money. "Good luck trying to get it from me ... it's like squeezing blood from a turnip."
I understand the music industry (and all content industries) are in turmoil. I understand Thomas-Rasset and other downloaders have, technically, run afoul of copyright law. But I will never understand why any industry would think it suitable to sue and extort its customer base. This is madness.
The bright spot amidst all this nonsense is that the film, book and media industries have avoided the lawsuit route. My hope is that all content companies -- including the record labels -- will eventually emerge from their knee-jerk defensive positions and realize there's a choice here: you can hope for a Pyrrhic victory over your digital nemesis, or you can reorient your businesses toward the new relationship between digital content creators, providers and consumers. People still want great content and they're still willing to pay for it -- now figure out how to give it to them. And for the love of God, don't sue your customers.
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