College student being sued for $675k for sharing music

On Monday, the supreme court held up a $675000 fine levied on a college student for sharing music files. The student shared 30 files on a peer to peer network and this was enough to land him the punishment. Joel, the student upon whom the fines were incurred, took this case to the supreme court as he believed that the law was used in a way that congress did not intend it to be used. The main argument in defense of the defendant is that the punishment is excessive, and even the Obama administration spoke out against the fines. The appellate court had reduced Joel's fines down to $67500, or $2250 per track, but then the original fines were reinstated. Many find the jury's award "severe and oppressive", but in the end it was decided that the judge does not have the power to reduce damages. The intentions of these cases are of course to intimidate music sharers from sharing music on the internet.