US Supreme Court Lets Stand $675,000 File-Sharing Verdict

[Maestro]

Supreme Court Lets Stand $675,000 File-Sharing Verdict

By David Kravet

The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a $675,000 file-sharing damages award that a jury levied against a college student for making 30 music tracks available on a peer-to-peer network.

Without comment, the high court, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Stephen Breyer not participating, declined an appeal brought by former Boston college student Joel Tenenbaum. His petition (.pdf) claimed that Congress did not intend “unrestrained discretionary jury damage awards against individual citizens for copyright infringement.”

The case before the justices, the second file-sharing case the high court has rejected in the Recording Industry Association of America’s now-defunct litigation campaign against individuals, concerned a decision by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Read more: wired.com/threatlevel/2012/05/supreme-court-file-sharing/