Damage caps apply if you kill someone, not if you download songs
In some states, the most this kid would be liable for if he paralyzed someone is $250k.
Tenenbaum argued the $675,000 award violates his due process rights because it’s not tied to the injury he caused. He estimates that to be no more than $450, or the cost of 30 albums.
Let’s see: Actual harm = $450 dollars. Verdict = $675,000 dollars. That’s a multiple of 1,500:1 for damages. Seems to me that I recall a conservative Supreme Court declaring that only in rare circumstances should punitive damages exceed a single digit multiple of actual damages.
Have I mentioned that I’m now very cynical about the law?