Obama Administration Mulls Constitutionality of Copyright Act, Wired, 2/19/09

Via Wired, Obama Administration Mulls Constitutionality of Copyright Act:

"In a few weeks, we'll likely know the Obama administration's position on whether it supports hefty monetary awards in file sharing litigation brought by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The Bush administration's position was clear. It supported the Copyright Act's penalties of up to $150,000 per infringed song.

"Congress acted reasonably in crafting the current incarnation by ensuring that it serves both a compensatory and deterrent purpose. Congress established a damages range that provides compensation for copyright owners in a regime in which actual damages are hard to quantify," the Bush administration wrote in 2007...

The minimum penalty under the Copyright Act equals a ratio of about 750 times the actual injury, assuming the value of a single music track costs $1 to purchase. Rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts say financial punishments exceeding a 9-to-1 ratio are unconstitutional."

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/02/obama-administr.html