Dept. of Justice sides with RIAA in MP3 File-Sharing Lawsuit

The Bush administration officially sided with the RIAA in the latest file-sharing lawsuit. Jamie Thomas, a middle class single mom in Minnesota has been ordered to shell out $222,000 for making 24 MP3s available on Kazaa.

It was the RIAA’s first anti-piracy trial victory. Back in October 2007, a judge ordered Thomas pony up the money. Thomas since appealed the verdict using the defense of a Supreme Court precedent preventing unreasonable fines.

24 songs for $222,000!

Even thought there is no way to know how many times the songs were downloaded and passed on. You can download 24 songs legally from iTunes for $24. Somebody’s estimate of digital music value is seriously out of whack!

The Department of Justice has stepped in because they deem the ruling against Thomas was a perfectly reasonable judgment. DMCA guidelines are intended to compensate copyright owners while acting as a future deterrent.  The DoJ is tasked with the defense of the constitution. The government will exercise its power to defend congressional statutes that may not otherwise survive judicial scrutiny.

The amount Thomas is being fined can be broken down to about $9,250 per song. The clause in the DMCA provides fines of up to $150,000 per illegally downloaded song, in this measure Thomas is getting off cheap.

Jamie Thomas has vowed to solider on. She will probably further appeal and has sworn to “be a thorn in the side of record companies.” You can read her sounding board on MySpace.com where she posts to her blog almost daily.