P2P Pirate Mom Seeks New Trial

Wants $220,000 jury judgment thrown out
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 15, 2007 10:38 PM CDT
P2P Pirate Mom Seeks New Trial
Jammie Thomas of Brainerd, Minn. walks out of the U.S. District Court in Duluth, Minn. Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007, after jury selection on the first day of her civil trial for alleged music pirating through illegal sharing of song files. Thomas, a 30-year-old mother of two, is the first of 26,000 people...   (Associated Press)

A single mom recently hit with a $220,000 penalty for P2P file-sharing of copyrighted music online is asking for a new trial, or a reduction of damages to between$0 and $150. News.com reports that attorneys for Jammie Thomas, the first person ever brought to trial for file-sharing, plan to argue that damages awarded to the recording industry are excessive.

Attorneys Brian Toder and Bryan Bleichner cite an analysis which claims the recording industry receives only 70 cents for each track legally downloaded on the Internet. Thomas was found to have merely shared 24 songs, none of which were shown in her recent trial to have been downloaded by others. "Any award above and beyond actual damages or harm suffered is purely punitive," her lawyers say. (More RIAA stories.)

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