“Student ordered to pay $675,000 for downloads”

State Journal Register—August 2, 2009

A federal jury on Friday ordered a Boston University graduate student who admitted he had illegally downloaded and shared music online to pay $675,000 to four record labels.  Joel Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., admitted in court that he downloaded and distributed 30 songs. Under federal law, the recording companies were entitled to between $750 and $30,000 per download.  But the law allows as much as $150,000 per track if the jury finds that thee downloads were willful.  Jurors ordered Tenenbaum to pay $22,500 for each incident of the copyright. 

Although this article is short I think it gives a good message to many teens.  Many people download music like it isn’t anything.  Obviously the authorities were setting an example of this person considering the outrageous dollar amount he was fined.  They were trying to get the message out that downloading is a serious crime and you will be punished if caught.