Bears Armed wrote:Last I heard, judges are "real human beings"...
They have to follow the letter of the law, even if they disagree with it.
Robarya wrote:If the fine was to be no higher than the original price of the product in question, there would be no incentive to avoid illegal downloading.
Indeed, the fine has to be higher than the price. But not outrageously so.
In order to be fair, the penalty should be proportional to the offense committed. "We can't catch all of them so we destroy those we do catch" is not just a poor excuse, it's no excuse at all. Demanding ridiculous "damages" is not a fair penalty.
I might point out that the Constitution grants one the right to a "fair and speedy trial" - not to unfair punishments - so this whole thing is, even if not in the letter, unconstitutional and unamerican in the spirit.