Realizing that double secret probation was not going to suffice, U.S. District Judge Marvin Aspen in Chicago found Madster and Johnny Deep in contempt of court Friday:

On Oct. 30, Aspen issued a preliminary injunction against Madster after finding evidence the Albany-based service had violated copyright law. The injunction called for Madster to monitor its system and disable access to copyright works.

Recording companies suing Madster claimed the service was disregarding Aspen's initial injunction, so on Dec. 2 a federal judge ordered the Albany-based service to immediately shut down. Download links on the Madster site have been unavailable since then.

The $51,000 in possible fines amounts to $1,500 for each of the 34 days between the two orders.

"John Deep was held in contempt for a very good reason. He refused to comply with the court's order, arguing that it was not possible to prevent illegal downloading and uploading on his network," said Matt Oppenheim, senior vice president of business and legal affairs at the Recording Industry Association of America.

....Deep said he didn't know if the file-sharing service was still operating. [AP]

The dog ate my homework - I thought you only had to pay taxes if you vote - everyone else is doing it. You would think he could have come up with a better excuse - some people never grow up.