According to Wired, the Obama administration is filled with former RIAA supporters who believe $150,000 per track is a great deterrant for people to download music.
The government said the damages range of $750 to $150,000 per violation of the Copyright Act was warranted.
“The remedy of statutory damages for copyright infringement has been the cornerstone of our federal copyright law since 1790, and Congress acted reasonably in crafting the current incarnation of the statutory damages provision,” Michelle Bennett, a Department of Justice trial attorney wrote (.pdf) Sunday to a Massachusetts federal judge weighing challenge to the Copyright Act.
The position — that the Copyright Act’s monetary damages are not unconstitutionally excessive — mirrors the one taken by the Bush administration and should come as no surprise.
The Media Six 