Music industry wins landmark case
JAMMIE Thomas, a single mother of two, was told to pay the RIAA $222,000 for 24 shared songs it claimed she put onto a P2P site.
According to Wired, she was found liable for infringing songs from bands such as Journey, Green Day, and Aerosmith.
The RIAA managed to squeeze some interesting rulings from US District Judge Michael Davis.
Firstly the the industry did not have to demonstrate that the defendant's computer had a file-sharing program installed at the time that they inspected her hard drive.
This was partly because Thomas bought a new hard-drive after the RIAA sniffed her shared folder.
Davis also told the jury that the RIAA did not have prove the defendant was at the keyboard when investigators accessed Thomas' share folder.
This means that it does not matter if someone else hijacks your computer you are still liable.
Davis also ruled that jurors may find copyright infringement liability even if no one downloaded the files. The RIAA did not have to prove that others downloaded anything.
Throughout the case Thomas, 30, maintained that she was not the Kazaa user " Tereastarr" whose files were detected by RIAA's investigators.
But the judge's rulings on the case, implied that all the jury needed to do was see evidence that her IP address and cable modem identifier were used to share some 1,700 files to find her guilty.
We suspect we have not heard the last of this case.
More here. ยต
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This ruling is insanity at its finest
Another landmark case that slowly erodes our civil rights.
I mean, just to ignore the basics of 'evidence' and 'proof'?

The land of the free..
Nothing like breaking in to someone's house to see if they have a copy of your CD. In perspective, that's exactly what it is. They're allowed to do whatever they wish to find out if you "copied" a song, whether it means breaking in to your computer or raiding your house. At this point, you can steal cases of CDs from a store and be charged less in court than if you copied each one of them over the internet.
It's not as if these sorts of things could be spoofed...
That's peculiar, because here in England, if you are a policeman with child porn pics on your computer, the legal system has to prove it was you that put them there and consequently you get off scot-free.
Don't buy music...you'll need the cash for a good lawyer...
OK, these guys at the RIAA need a real lesson on "who is the boss."

Don't buy their crap, please! Support your local music scene instead. I have not purchased RIAA product for 7 years now. 

In supporting my local Houston, TX music scene I control where my money goes, and I get to see the direct result. I'm not lining some RIAA (middle managers) pockets. I also no longer feel like I need a shower to wash off the RIAA filth from my psyche.

The RIAA is unneeded anyway, look to "Silversun Pickups" for a great indie band that is making money by the truck loads and is completely devoid of any RIAA influence.

Die in a fire please RIAA!
...that's 222,000 songs I'll download for free rather than paying for.
What garbage! I feel so bad for that girl. If I ever meet an RIAA attorney or exec I would consider trying to copy thier face with the bottom of my shoe. Then maybe I could upload it via his bottom. Shoetube anyone?
If you ever "get the letter" let me tell you, it's not a fun time. Makes photo radar seem like a good day.
So Jammie has been bankrupted. The legal precedents that have been set suck, but here's a couple things I have learned that may provide some good practical advice:
-copy cds from the library. Many mp3s are not of good quality and not even worth it, frankly. Bittorrent is not particularly safe, copy from friends at work, ipfilter.dat has no guarantee to protect you. Rent dvds and copy them that way. Download MIro and take advantage of their free channels. Cultivate an interest in youtube and/or pandora instead. Scare up the money for a legit copy, ya gangsta! Take up shortwave or radio or even internet radio. Would it kill you to read a book for once? Buy a tuner card and record movies and tv episodes off cable.