Digital Home Thoughts: Judge Orders Woman to Pay $80,000 per Pirated Song

"In one of the most ridiculous verdicts I've seen, the jury decided that Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the first woman who was charged with copyright infringement and offered to settle but decided to fight the RIAA, is guilty and owes the recording industry 1.92 million dollars, or $80,000 per song."

You all know how I feel about music piracy, but there's something completely ludicrous about the ruling here where the woman now owes 1.92 million dollars to the recording industry. She's not going to pay that amount - the article says the RIAA will settle out of court for much less - but I have to wonder if the numbers had been more reasonable in ther first place, the RIAA would have made their point better. This is essentially about grand-standing, hoping to scare people into not pirating music any longer. Did it work? I don't think so - I haven't seen any information about music piracy rates dropping.