Jesse Jordan, a freshman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, built a simple search engine to index files on his university's local network in 2002-2003, causing the RIAA to sue him and three other students for $98 billion total in damages, eventually forcing Jordan to settle for his entire $12,000 life savings.
factualpending
Speaker
Lawrence LessigEvidence Quote
“On April 3, 2003, Jesse was contacted by the dean of students at RPI. The dean informed Jesse that the Recording Industry Association of America, the RIAA, would be filing a lawsuit against him and three other students... They demanded $12,000 to dismiss the case.”
Created: 7/13/2026, 4:53:43 PM
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