Obama Justice Dept. Defends $1.92M File-Swapping Damages

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 17, 2009 - 3:00pm.

Washington - The U.S. Department of Justice has defended the constitutionality of an award of $1.92 million in damages for copyright infringement on a file-sharing network, which a jury ordered Kazaa user Jammie Thomas-Rasset to pay the major record labels.

"Congress took into account the need to deter the millions of users of new media from infringing copyrights in an environment where many violators believe that they will go unnoticed," reads a brief submitted to the court handling Thomas' appeal of the damages award.

Thomas' attorneys are arguing that a fine of up to $150,000 per song shared on a peer-to-peer network is unconstitutionally high, and should be set aside.

The Justice Department issued a similar defense of the constitutionality of current laws governing copyright infringement damages two years ago in the same case, under former President Bush.

http://snipurl.com/qeyfp (Scribd)