RIAA wins case in Minnesota?

Originally Posted by Slash

Now I don't know why but I've been following this story since it first hit and I'm absolutely shocked that the RIAA won. Was the jury just stupid or what?! She should totally appeal for a reversal because 10K a song is just ridiculous.

It's mostly because her defense was assinine, if an earlier article on Wired is accurate:

Quote:

DULUTH, Minnesota -- Moments before jurors began deliberating the nation' first Recording Industry Association pirating trial, the association's attorney told panelists Thursday morning that the defendant's case was riddled with "misdirection, red herrings and smoke and mirrors."

The RIAA says 30-year-old Jammie Thomas shared some 1,700 files on the Kazaa network on Feb. 21, 2005, using the username Tereastarr, the same name she uses for her e-mail, while shopping online, to access her personal computer, and even on the dating service Match.com. The RIAA is suing on just 24 downloads, which was originally 26 when the case started here Tuesday.

Jurors can award penalties of up to $150,000 per violation.

Brian Toder (right), Thomas' defense attorney, told jurors during his closing argument that, despite overwhelming evidence against Thomas, the industry cannot establish "this actual human being was behind the keyboard."

"There are, clearly, alternate explanations. We don't know what those alternate explanations are," Toder said. He alluded to theories of zombies, crackers, drones and spoofs. He said his client was "not the person marauding as Tereastarr."

"All we know is that Jammie Thomas didn't do it," Toder said.

Evidence against Thomas included her internet protocol address matching the address where the files were shared, as well as her Charter Communications' cable modem MAC address. A wireless intrusion was also ruled out, because the private internet protocol address of that router would have been present in the Kazaa traffic.

Richard Gabriel (left), the RIAA's attorney, told panelists that Thomas, when she took the stand, never broached the topic that somebody else may have been the culprit.

"She didn't try to point to anybody because she did it," Gabriel said in his closing remarks. Minutes before, he said "All fingers point at Jammie Thomas in this case, ladies and gentleman."

Jury instructions are here (.pdf). And here's the 30-question verdict form (.pdf) the jury will fill out. If they find Thomas liable, the jurors will have to decide how much to award the recording companies for each copyright infringement, and record the amount on this form.

Stay tuned for a verdict. THREAT LEVEL invites readers to predict the trial's outcome.

Jam it back in, in the dark.