San Francisco - The jury in Jammie Thomas' file-sharing copyright infringement trial took just five minutes to determine her guilt, but then spent several hours "bickering" over the financial penalty she should pay, according to one juror interviewed by Wired News.

At least two jurors were pressing for the maximum $150,000 per song, while another argued in favor of the minimum of $750, before the group agreed on a figure of $9,250 per song.

"That is a compromise, yes," Michael Hegg, a 38-year-old steelworker from Duluth, Minnesota and member of the jury, told Wired News.

"We wanted to send a message that you don't do this, that you have been warned."

Hegg added that he believed that Thomas was "a liar," pointing to elements of her defense including her contention that she could have been a victim of "spoofing" of her account; her submission of a computer hard drive that was not the same one used during the alleged file-sharing; and the fact that the "tereastarr" handle she used on e-mail, website logins and MySpace was also connected with the Kazaa account used to offer music for sharing.

"I think she thought a jury from Duluth would be naïve," Hegg told Wired News. "We're not that stupid up here."

Thomas yesterday announced that she will appeal the guilty verdict and $220,000 in damages she was ordered to pay to the record industry.

Related Links:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/riaa-juror-we-w.html

http://tinyurl.com/2ko9wa (DMW previous coverage)
Jammie Thomas Plans to Pay RIAA Fine on her Own