I’ve been following with interest the story of Jammie Thomas-Rasset as she battled the behemouth of the Recording Industry of Association America (RIAA) over illegal music sharing.  The re-trial of her case wrapped up today with the jury awarding the outrageous sum of $1.9 million to the RIAA.  I’m not going to recite the details of the case; any simple Google search, Cuil search, or Bing search will bring up mountains of articles.

I don’t condone the kinds of activities Thomas-Rasset is accused of in this case.  Far from it.  If she did what the RIAA has accused her of then she certainly should be held liable.  But $1.9 million?  That seems extreme at a minimum.  I fail to see how that relates in any way to the actual harm suffered by the artists whose music was alleged to be pirated.

I’m sure the RIAA lawyers are rejoicing in their victory.  Congratulations; I hope you guys (and gals) are proud of yourselves.