Illegal file sharing has once again hit the headlines in another high profile case brought by the music industry. In what many see as a ludicrous decision, a jury fined Joel Tenenbaum an unbelievable $675,000 for downloading a grand total of 30 songs over an 8-year period.
After the jury had announced their judgment, the judge commented the fine was “unconstitutional” given the nature of the crime involved, and she took the decision to reduce the amount to a more sensible $67,500. Even so, Joel Tenenbaum says he will still struggle to pay the fine—and since the music industry is threatening to appeal the Judge’s decision, he is not out of the woods yet.
There have been many similar cases in recent times. But since Joel Tenenbaum and the other defendants like him are so small in the world of file sharing, why has the music industry bothered to target them?
It is obvious they are making an example of these people, but many believe that the music industry is barking up the wrong tree when much anecdotal evidence these days suggests that small-time file sharing is actually beneficial for many artists seeking to gain recognition on the Internet.