Digital Home Thoughts: Mom Fights It Alone Against RIAA

"The RIAA is a little busybody when it comes to lawsuits, threatening 16,000 Internet users with them in the last two years alone. Yet this battery of legal assaults have mostly amounted to threats aimed at extracting settlement money and public displays of power. None of them have proceeded to trial yet, save one: the case of Patricia Santangelo. This divorced mother of five living in Wappingers Falls, New York, has earned the distinction of being the first "swapper" to head into court because she has refused to accede to the RIAA's demands. Put simple, Santangelo wants her day in court, because as far as she is concerned, she's not guilty."

At the heart of the matter is Santangelo's claim to be computer-illiterate. She believes that the files ended up on her computer because of a friend of one of her kids, not because of something she did, and doesn't want to admit guilt or pay any fees. She insists that she has no idea how they got on her computer, and I am sure that her story is one that hits home with tons of other parents, who worry about the same thing happening to them. I clearly understand her point and to some extent I am surprised that the RIAA is not backing down. I know many of you are parents, do you worry about similar issues. And what measure do you take to protect yourselves?