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In a way I feel like it makes a mockery out of it. It is such an unrealistic figure that I doubt he’ll end up paying anywhere near it and if that is the case, what is the purpose of the number?

It is like saying you have to serve 300 life sentences. That is just 1 and everyone knows it. “Be quiet now or you will get another 50” “oh nO, nOt 50 mOrE”

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In US law, each case sets precedent for the cases that come after it. This is now a damages figure that will be referred to by other lawyers. Imagine if a corporation does something like this, the way eBay was terrorizing a couple? Their damages are now in the billions rather than the hundreds of thousands.

I felt like that when I initially read this. But now, after reading some of the other comments, I think I see where they're coming from. I now see it more like "You destroyed someone else's entire life; the damages caused by that is essentially unlimited, so you will pay them unlimited damages. Give them all your money for the rest of your life."

I'm not sure I agree with the principle, but I do see the point and it does make sense as a figure for me now.

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