RIAA wins download case

Jammie Thomas, the Minnesota woman on trial for making music available in the Kazaa network, has lost her jury case and will have to pay the plaintiffs $220,000 USD (that's $248,000 AUS). The Duluth jury held her liable for $9,250 for each of the 24 songs that were subject to the lawsuit. This is perhaps the biggest victory for the music industry in their long fight against P2P file-sharing. Forget Grokster, this is the one that people will remember.

In case you are curious, the songs are:

• Aerosmith "Cryin'"
• Bryan Adams "Somebody"
• Def Leppard "Pour Some Sugar on Me"
• Destiny's Child "Bills, Bills, Bills"
• Janet Jackson "Let's What Awhile
• Gloria Estefan "Here We Are"
• Gloria Estefan "Coming Out of the Heart"
• Gloria Estefan "Rhythm is Gonna Get You"
• Goo Goo Dolls "Iris"
• Green Day "Basket Case"
• Guns N Roses "Welcome to the Jungle"
• Guns N Roses "November Rain"
• Journey "Faithfully"
• Journey "Don't Stop Believing"
• Linkin Park "One Step Closer"
• No Doubt "Bathwater"
• No Doubt "Hella Good"
• No Doubt "Different People."
• Reba McEntire "One Honest Heart"
• Richard Marx "Now and Forever"
• Sara McLachlan "Possession"
• Sara McLachlan "Building a Mystery"
• Sheryl Crow "Run Baby Run"
• Vanessa Williams "Save the Best for Last"
  

I will not comment on whether this list deserves a payout equivalent to 531 iPods. Heck, I even have some of these songs on my own play list (before BPI comes after me, I own the CDs). I may be accused of being a conspiracy theorist, but I'm certain that whoever compiled that list of songs was trying to make a point (they had more than a thousand to choose from) . Perhaps the RIAA will adopt "Rhythm is Gonna Get You" as their anthem. Take it away, Gloria...

Update: I was interviewed by the Duluth News Tribune. I like the fact that I'm part of the tech-savvy world now.