By Mark O’Neill

Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Remember Whitney Harper? She was that 16 year old who didn’t know that downloading MP3’s from Kazaa was illegal and she pleaded ignorance when the RIAA set their hound dogs on her. It actually worked because the judge ordered that she only had to pay $200 per song instead of $750.

Well the RIAA has now apparently decided that the judge’s award of $200 per song is totally unacceptable and they have told the judge to shove his $7,400 up where the sun don’t shine. Instead they have decided to force the whole matter to a federal jury trial and let the jury decide how much the RIAA deserves (I’m praying they award them $1! That would be poetic justice!).

This decision just shows the RIAA’s hypocrisy. All along they have said that it’s not about the money, that instead it’s about teaching those darn downloaders a lesson. If that’s really the case, then why not just take the $7,400? I don’t think Whitney will be doing any more downloading anytime soon. But to drag her now through a jury trial and rack up even more legal costs?

That is just downright vindictiveness, nothing more, nothing less. Why don’t they just form the firing squad, put her against the wall and get the whole thing over with?

Via Ars Technica