Single mother owes $222,000

To read this article, visit: http://www.thenewstribune.com/tacoma/24hour/technology/story/171816.html

I have an increasingly obvious trend within my professional blog post subjects. The articles that interest me the most and that I typically dissect are those that have to do with lawsuits against an individual or a small group of ordinary people. I have researched many articles and published posts on them that pertain to this topic, and still this time I have not failed to find another article, very recent as well, that is well related to my previous articles of choice.

This article was another one that was published by The News Tribune and was titled “Woman to Pay Downloading Award Herself.” The published article was about a woman, Jammie Thomas, who resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was found guilty of the illegal file sharing of 24 songs. There were many music industry companies that were suing Thomas including; Interscope Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Records. Jammie Thomas was sued $9,250 for each of the 24 songs that she was found guilty for sharing to thousands of users of Kazaa. Total, Thomas will owe $222,000, which she publicly stated that she will look for no financial assistance with paying back, even though she makes $36,000 a year and is a single mother.

The article introduces Roy Beckerman, an attorney that represents people who have been charged and sued by various record industries, who states in the article, “Now, look at this. This is 10 times better. They can talk about this case, they can use it for frightening people." This is an exclaiming statement because it shows how even professionals within the law see how abusive these cases can be. Beckerman argues that the “award was disproportionate to the price of the 24 songs Thomas was accused of sharing for free” and that the fine she must pay is incredible.

On the other hand, Richard Gabriel, a lawyer for the record company, disagrees with Beckerman. Gabriel disputes that although Thomas may have only illegally downloaded twenty-four songs, she made those same songs then available to many millions of people; therefore causing the totaling damage of $222,000. Right, wrong, or indifferent; Jammie Thomas will have to pay.