The Supreme Court today refused to hear the case of a college student who was fined more than half a million dollars for illegally downloading 30 songs.

The Supreme Court today refused to hear the case of a college student who was fined more than half a million dollars for illegally downloading 30 songs.

In a note on the court's website, it gave the standard denial: "The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied." It specified that Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Breyer took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.

The case dates back to 2003 when the parents of then 16-year-old Tenenbaum were hit with a bill for $5,250 for downloading seven songs, according to a timeline on Tenenbaum's website. Tenenbaum submitted $500, but the check was returned. In 2007, several music labels, backed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), filed suit seeking up to $150,000 per violation.

Charles Nesson, co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society and a Harvard law professor, took on Tenenbaum's case pro bono with a group of his students. But by July 2009, the court - or $22,500 per violation for what was now 30 songs. The following year, that was reduced to $67,500, but a higher court rejected that ruling and reinstated the $675,000 fine.

In 2009, a file with all the songs downloaded by Tenenbaum, dubbed the $675,000 Mixtape, .

In a brief statement, the RIAA said it was "pleased with this decision."

The case is not completely over, however. In an email, Nesson said "the action is now in the District Court where the judge is to consider 'remitting" the award to a lower amount and then giving the recording companies the choice of accepting it or having another trial."

In Dec. 2008, the RIAA of suing individuals for online piracy in favor of working with Internet service providers to track down offenders. Later this year, the nation's top ISPs the "Copyright Alert System," which will provide notices to consumers if their ISP suspects there is illegal downloading going on.