Mass. student on trial admits sharing tunes online

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston University graduate student accused of illegally swapping music online admitted in court today that he has downloaded and shared hundreds of songs by Nirvana, Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins and other artists.

Joel Tenenbaum, 25, of Providence, R.I., was called to the stand by recording industry lawyers who accuse him of copyright infringement. A lawyer for four major recording labels questioned Tenenbaum about songs he downloaded using the Kazaa file-sharing network. He likely will take the stand in his own defense later today.

The case in U.S. District Court in Boston is only the nation’s second music-downloading case against an individual to go to trial. Last month, a federal jury ruled a Minnesota woman must pay $1.92 million for copyright infringement.