Rock fan pays dearly
Jammie Thomas, a single mother of two from Brainerd, Minnesota, was found liable of copyright infringement by the RIAA. 12 jurors determined she must pay $9,250 each for the 24 songs she downloaded - a total of $222,000, according to Wired's Threat Level.
Though the RIAA thinks it sends a strong message by handing out lawsuits, online measuring service BigChampagne says the number of P2P users unlawfully trading goods has tripled since the RIAA first began targeting individuals in 2003: Up from 3.8 million to 9 million. Around 70 percent of those trade digital music.
Wired posted the 24 songs Thomas was sent to court over, calling them the Internet Trial of the Century's Playlist of the Century. The list, which boasts heavy rock influences, includes Guns n' Roses' "November Rain" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard.