Gary Wade Leak, a Sony lawyer who was a star witness for the RIAA in the recent Jammie Thomas trial has said today that even he is “shocked” by the amount of money Thomas is now being forced to pay, a gigantic $1.92 million sum.
Speaking at an alumni event at Columbia University, Leak added: “We were shocked. I suspected we were going to win, but I really thought they would come in with a lower number.”
However, during the trial, Leak made it very clear that the jury could charge the maximum $150,000 USD per song in damages, as it would be “certainly appropriate” given the circumstances.
Leak did admit that he expects the award to be reduced either in a settlement or on appeal, and it may be pushed back to the original award of $220,000 or even less.
Result for: star witness
Gary Wade Leak, a Sony lawyer who was a star witness for the RIAA in the recent Jammie Thomas trial has said today that even he is “shocked” by the amount of money Thomas is now being forced to pay, a gigantic $1.92 million sum.
Speaking at an alumni event at Columbia University, Leak added: “We were shocked. I suspected we were going to win, but I really thought they would come in with a lower number.”
However, during the trial, Leak made it very clear that the jury could charge the maximum $150,000 USD per song in damages, as it would be “certainly appropriate” given the circumstances.
Leak did admit that he expects the award to be reduced either in a settlement or on appeal, and it may be pushed back to the original award of $220,000 or even less.
Result for: star witness
In a situation that should crush the credibility of the ongoing court case, it has been revealed that police officer Jim Keyzer, the “star” witness in the investigation against the The Pirate Bay was recently employed by Warner Bros, one of the companies suing the admins at TPB.
The website tpbKopit.se made the discovery yesterday after searching the officer’s Facebook profile. He has since deleted his profile but the damage is done.
Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde (brokep) added: “He [Keyzer] confirmed that he is an employee there and we can’t see it in any other way than this being the reward for a work well done from the new employer of the police, the entertainment industry”
“This is a legal outrage. Talk about biased,” Sunde continues. “Keyzer is in charge of the investigation. No matter the reasons to switch employer, this investigation has not been fair. We have felt that the investigation has concentrated on trying to locate something to point out as wrong with The Pirate Bay instead of determining if the activities of the site are unlawful or not.”
“This is pure, classic corruption,” says Rickard Falkvinge leader of the Swedish pirate party. “Big companies from foreign nations trying to affect the outcome in a Swedish Court of Justice with straightforward bribes. Now the copyright lobby is showing its true face.”
The consequences of this new revelation is that the case, and the investigation, which was started nearly 2 years ago, may have to be redone, making a huge setback for Swedish investigators.
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