Quote:
Originally Posted by HPLovecraft
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/18/...ine/index.html
Mother of 4, works for an Indian tribe in Minnesota. Sued by the RIAA for $1.9 million dollars. yeah, she's paying that one.
This same judge threw out the case the first time, citing some language he couldn't understand. The jury determined to fine her a lesser amount then. The same judge gets the case again, and this time sees fit to give the OK to a $1.9 million dollar fine for 24 songs downloaded.
Doesn't this violate the US 8th amendment?
Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.
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There is without a doubt not an ounce of an 8th Amendment issue here. She was facing fines of up to $150,000 per violation, the only reason a second trial even occurred was an incorrect jury instruction. The second trial was valid, at least at this point as appeals haven't been filed, and the decision of the jury is well within the allowable range. Nothing violative of the 8th Amendment there at all.
That said, I think it's ridiculous that the RIAA has pursued this suit. I'm not sure what they hope to gain, associating your artists with multi-million dollar suits against working class families is hardly good press. Apparently the labels have stopped suing individuals and have focused their efforts on ISP's, why this case didn't stay out of court is pretty odd. There's a decent chance that the defendant's attorney screwed this one by not accepting an earlier settlement offer. I'm still not a fan of the rigidity that the RIAA has shown in approaching this problem.