Richard Marx

Richard Marx

Minnesota mom Jammie Thomas-Rasset, who was fined a staggering $1.92 million for illegally downloading 24 songs from Kazaa, has requested a third trial as part of a bid to reduce the fine to a more realistic $18,000. That would reduce the cost per song from $80,000 to $750; a price which remains significantly more wallet-busting than the dollar-or-so standard at most online digital music sellers. Richard Marx, whose tracks were among those downloaded by Thomas-Rasset, revealed his distaste for the original fine in a statement, saying “her accountability itself is not in question, but this show of force posing as judicial come-uppance is clearly abusive. Ms. Thomas-Rasset, I think you got a raw deal, and I’m ashamed to have my name associated with this issue.” Moby expressed similar views, saying “What utter nonsense. This is how the record companies want to protect themselves? Suing suburban moms for listening to music? Charging $80,000 per song? Punishing people for listening to music is exactly the wrong way to protect the music business.”