Oink Walks, Thomas Catches a Break

Big news from file sharing suits on both sides of the pond.  Last week, Alan Ellis, admin of defunct bittorrent tracker Oink.com, was acquitted of the criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the music industry.  The case brought to light that Ellis raked in more than $300,000 in donations from users of the site, and the recording industry has pledged to reclaim that revenue in a civil suit.

Meanwhile, US District Court Judge Michael Davis drastically reduced the damage award granted to the recording industry against guilty infringer Jammie Thomas-Rassett.  In dropping Thomas’s penalty from $1.92 million to $54,000, Davis indicated that the initial penalty was “so grossly excessive as to shock the conscience of the court,” noting that he himself may have reduced it even further if not for the jury verdict.  The labels have until this friday to accept the damage award or move for a new trial.  From a public relations standpoint, it would be prudent for the labels to accept the damage award and move on, though it would somewhat compromise their now-defunct litigation strategy.  Plenty more to come on this in the weeks ahead.