Judge Nancy Gertner of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts Friday reduced nearly 90 percent of the damages that a last year jury had awarded the recording industry in a file-sharing lawsuit involving a Boston Ph.D student, Joel Tenenbaum.

Saying that the original $675,000 award – which the jury asked Tenenbaum to pay as damages for illegally sharing music files - was “unconstitutionally excessive,” Judge Gertner added that the reduced $67,500 award was “still severe, even harsh.”

In her opinion, Judge Gertner said that the reduced amount “not only adequately compensates the plaintiffs for the relatively minor harm that Tenenbaum caused them (the recording industry); it sends a strong message that those who exploit peer-to-peer networks to unlawfully download and distribute copyrighted works run the risk of incurring substantial damages awards.”

Judge Gertner also said that there is no evidence that Tenenbaum used file-sharing networks because he wanted DRM-free music.

Tenenbaum was sued by a group of record companies, in last August, for illegally downloading and sharing 30 songs on Kazaa. The jury came to the decision that Tenenbaum should pay $22,500 per song for copyright infringement – an award which the Obama administration has also supported. 

Tenenbaum, however, had out in a request for a slashed sentence and a fresh trial.