The New York Times reports that a Minnesota woman has been ordered by a federal jury to pay $1.92 million to several major record labels for illegally sharing 24 songs on Kazaa. For those of you doing the math at home, that’s roughly $80,000 per song. At her original trial in 2007, 32-year-old Jammie Thomas-Rasset was ordered to pay $222,000 - a mere $9,250 per song. The jury in the retrial was not as lenient. Over 35,000 have been sued by the RIAA in the past few years, but this is the only case to have gone to trial. The RIAA does not intend to collect the full amount, hoping to reach a settlement with the mother of two. After the trial, she told reporters there was no way she could have paid it anyway. “The only thing I can say is good luck trying to get it, because you can’t get blood out of a turnip.” MOM!

We’re not sure if Tom Perrelli helped the RIAA in their case against terminally ill Ciara Sauro, but as co-chair of the law firm Jenner & Block’s entertainment and new media practice he has represented the RIAA in a number of file-sharing cases. Perrelli — who also served the position during the Clinton administration — is a much more interesting choice this decade considering the sue-happy RIAA’s role in file sharing and piracy litigation. Oh, and the entertainment industry’s $7,669,442 in contributions to the Obama campaign only makes it juicier.
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Like something straight out of a bad made-for-TV movie, the RIAA has handed down its most recent hard-earned lesson about file sharing (and a possible $8,000 fine) to Ciara Sauro, a 19-year-old girl who suffers from pancreatitis and severe depression, has mounting medical bills and whose mother brings in just $8.25 an hour.
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