TechDirt challenged the artists whose files Joel Tenenbaum had shared over the Internet to comment on the case. Joel was sued by the RIAA, who won the first round. A Boston federal jury ordered Joel Tenenbaum to pay $675,000—$22,500 per song—to the major record labels for willfully infringing 30 songs by downloading and distributing them over the KaZaA.

The TechDirt challenge would have no legal ramifications, but it would be interesting. The comments that stood out the most were those that thought so little of the musicians and their work. The tones were dismissive. Some forget that without the musicians, there are no files to download and there are no record companies and there is no RIAA.

Among the songs Joel downloaded were Nirvana's Come As You Are and Nine Inch Nails' The Perfect Drug. I haven't been able to find comments from Trent.