Alleged file sharer faces $5 million fine

A number of major record labels are suing a 25 year old American for allegedly swapping several songs through file-sharing networks including Kazaa.

Joel Tenenbaum is accused of download and sharing songs from music groups including Green Day and Aerosmith during his time as a student at Goucher College in Baltimore.

Charles Nesson, Tenenbaum’s lawyer, said in his opening statement that he was merely a student doing “what kids do”.

“He was a kid who did what kids do and loved technology and loved music,” Nesson said in opening statements. “The internet was not Joel’s fault. The internet sweeps in like the way the automobile swept into the buggy industry.”

The lawyer representing the record companies, however, said file-sharers such as Tenenbaum hurt record company revenues and others who make the living in the music industry.