RIAA suffers big setback in Tenenbaum case

The music industry suffered another high-profile legal setback on Friday when a federal judge reduced a damages award against a file sharer found liable for copyright violations.

A jury last year ordered Joel Tenenbaum, a Boston University student, to pay $675,000, after being found liable of copyright infringement, to the Recording Industry Association of America, the trade group for the four largest record companies. But U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner ruled that the amount was "unconstitutionally excessive," according to a report in Boston.com, the Web site for The Boston Globe.

Tenenbaum must now pay one tenth the original sum, or $67,500. Gertner's decision is another indication that judges just aren't satisfied with the damage amounts juries are allowed to set under federal guidelines.