Illegal Downloader Hit With Huge Six Figure Fine

An American woman has been ordered to pay over £100,000 after being found guilty of file-sharing.

Jammie Thomas will have to pay a £108,000 ($220,000) fine after she was sued by six major record companies.

Thomas was accused of sharing 1,702 songs which she had downloaded and then distributed for free via Kazaa – an internet file-sharing website.

Thomas was fined £4,500 ($9,250) for twenty four songs specified in the case by the record companies. She has denied owning a Kazaa account.

The lowest fine that the jury could have handed out was £370 ($750) per song. 

Since 2003 record companies have issued 26,000 lawsuits because of illegal file-sharing with most accused choosing to settle outside of court to avoid the heavy fine.