Article: Woman fined $220,000 for illegal music sharing

A Minnesota jury has ordered a woman to pay $222,000 (109,000) for sharing music over the internet, in what has been hailed as a landmark ruling.

Jammie Thomas, a native-American who works on an Indian reservation, was ordered to pay the six record companies suing her $9,250 for each of 24 songs they focused on in the case. The sum is equivalent to about five times her annual salary and is expected to force her into bankruptcy.

Ms Thomas's taste in music ran to tracks by the Swedish "death metal" band Opeth as well as Janet Jackson, Green Day, Guns N' Roses, Journey and Destiny's Child, among others.

She was sued by Arista Records, Capitol Records Inc., Interscope Records, Sony BMG, UMG ...

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