If you haven’t heard yet, Universal Music Group was awarded $118 million in the MyMP3 copyright case. Although I think the case is a crock, I’m wondering if the judge overstepped his bounds.
From AP:
Is that within his right? Or, perhaps a better question would be, is that his responsibility? I would think it should be that the court should look at the case narrowly, so to speak, and not consider the reverbrations of the case in the rest of the world.
Basically, shouldn’t the judge determine if the law was broken and what damages need to be awarded, not what message needs to be sent?
The judge has to right to look at the case in any way he sees fit. It could be overturned on appeal (and I suspect the final amount will be reduced), but there’s no reason a judge can’t try to send a message. Especially in this case, where MP3.com performed an especially egregious violation of the law.