Ares Connect

In another outrageous court case instigated by the music industry in an attempt to crack down on illegal file sharing, poor Joel Tenenbaum has been made an example of after a jury chose to punish him with the ludicrous fine of $675,000.

His only crime was to download 30 songs over an 8-year period. Even the judge agreed that Tenenbaum had obviously had no interest in financial gain and had clearly been unaware of the fact he was supposedly committing an illegal act. The Judge actually commented that the amount was “unconstitutional” given the relatively small crime that had been committed.

Fortunately for Joel Tenenbaum, the Judge took the decision to reduce the fine to a slightly more sensible $67,500, but even so, Tenenbaum still says he has no real chance of paying off the debt given his modest income.

In the light of this high profile case, and several others in recent times, it is incomprehensible to many that instead of taking the view that in the vast majority of cases, small scale file sharing actually helps artists market their songs to the public, the music industry chooses to target individuals whose only crime is to share a few songs on the Internet.

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