BOSTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A federal judge has refused to order a Boston University graduate student to stop promoting file-sharing.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner entered a judgment against Joel Tenenbaum of $675,000, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday. A jury awarded the damages to record companies after finding Tenenbaum illegally downloaded 30 songs.
While Gertner said she would order Tenenbaum to avoid copyright violations in the future, she said barring him from promoting file-sharing would be a violation of his freedom of speech.
"The word promote is far too vague to withstand scrutiny under the First Amendment,'' Gertner said. "Although plaintiffs are entitled to statutory damages, they have no right to silence defendant's criticism of the statutory regime under which he is obligated to pay those damages.''
The judge also expressed sympathy for young people like Tenenbaum, 24, a student of physics, saying she is worried about the "rash of file-sharing lawsuits, the imbalance of resources between the parties, and the upheaval of norms of behavior brought on by the Internet.''
Tenenbaum is expected to ask for the damage award to be overturned or cut.
