RIAA trial verdict is in: jury finds Thomas liable for infringement

▤ Summary

"This does send a message, we hope, that both downloading and distributing music is not ok." When asked if there was an end game in sight for the series of lawsuits, Gabriel said that it was up to the RIAA to decide. He then moved on to David Edgar, manager of Charters Internet security department and noted that he didnt testify that the MAC address from the cable modem rented to Thomas identified a specific computer. Toder concluded by saying that the plaintiffs did not meet their burden of proof and said that the jury doesnt have to award the record companies money in this trial "because they didnt earn it." He ticked off the evidence of the MAC and IP addresses, a password-protected PC that only the defendant had access to, use of the tereastarr nickname across several services and e-mail accounts across the years, and the "eclectic musical tastes" of Thomas that he said were reflected both on the hard drive and in the shared folder. The RIAA hopes that this and the 20,000 other cases serve as a deterrent to would-be file-sharers, but the question of whether or not the music industry is engendering so much hostility and bad press with its campaign that it outweighs any short-term benefits remains.

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