Download Showdowns

Download showdowns:

The record industry has struggled for years to deter illegal music downloads. It recently abandoned its early legal strategy of bringing mass lawsuits -- which may have deterred some downloaders, but at an appalling publicity cost when that net caught single mothers, a pre-teen and a dead person -- for a more targeted approach. This week, that revamped strategy faced tests in two federal courts.

In Minneapolis today, a jury found a Minnesota woman downloaded 24 songs illegally and awarded record companies $80,000 per song, for an expensive total of $1.92 million. That's short of the $150,000 per song she could have been liable for under federal copyright law, but it's much more than the result of her first trial in 2007, when a jury found she'd illegally downloaded and awarded record companies $222,000, or $9,250 per tune. The judge later ordered a new trial for technical reasons. Her lawyers had argued the companies hadn't proven that Thomas-Rasset actually downloaded the music herself.

Meanwhile in Boston, a judge hearing the case of Joel Tenenbaum, accused of illegally downloading seven songs, just issued various pretrial rulings that suggest the judge has lost patience with a defense strategy that's been orchestrated by Harvard Law School Professor Charles Nesson to the amazement of the copyright bar. Among other unconventional examples, the defense has taped opposing counsel without their permission, and has uploaded the songs that are already at issue in the case. Why?

Hard-line fair use advocates insist Thomas-Rasset and Tenenbaum are heroes for standing up to the recording industry. The industry, in turn, says piracy costs billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs every year.

Meanwhile, according to the Associated Press, most listeners accused of illegal downloads have paid their way out of this battle, paying, on average, $3,500 each. A lot less than $150,000, but a lot more than 99 cents on itunes.