So much for needing a summer job. Jesse Jordan, the Long Island, New York, teenager who was one of four college students sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for copyright infringement back in April, has made back all the money he owed as part of his $12,000 settlement, and he didn’t do it the old-fashioned way.
Jordan was accused by the RIAA of running a file-sharing Web site. While he admitted no wrongdoing, he settled along with the three other accused college students rather than challenge the lawsuit.
The 19-year-old had been trying to find a summer job to help earn back some of the money he owed the RIAA. While searching, he solicited donations on his Web site, and within six weeks, he announced that he received funds exceeding the settlement by $5.67. The response from sympathetic fans was so great, Jordan had to post a message on his notorious chewplastic.com site to tell people to stop sending him money. Jordan’s father told the New York Post that more than 900 people from around the world sent the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute sophomore donations ranging from 10 cents to $500.
