RIAA Lawsuit Defendants Blame Everyone But Themselves

So this is how Natalie Imbruglia felt. I’m torn.

On the one hand, I think the RIAA is ridiculous for suing everybody. On the other hand, I think people not taking responsibility for their actions and blaming everything on everybody else is ridiculous too.

And so we dance.

A couple of kids being sued by the RIAA for illegally downloading music are trying to drag Sharman Networks (makers of KaZaA), AOL, and one of their friends into the litigation process. Their argument? Basically, the friend loaded KaZaA onto their computer which let them download and share music illegally without them knowing, and AOL didn’t block the illegal P2P traffic from being transferred to and from their computer.

Hey dipshits, you downloaded music that you didn’t purchase. Nobody forced you to do that.

The one thing about this case that sort of strikes a weak, half-assed chord with me is that KaZaA did have a habit of running in the background even when some people thought they had closed the program and, if you weren’t familiar with how P2P technology works, you wouldn’t necessarily know that the files you download are then shared with anyone else on the network unless you disable file sharing or move the files to a different folder. But it’s kind of like that guy who just tried to sue 1-800 Flowers for sending a thank you note to his house for the flowers he sent to his mistress. Just because you got caught doesn’t make whatever or whomever enabled you to cheat liable for your actions.

The bright side of this story is that, if the defendants are successful in roping in AOL, Sharman, and their buddy, this lawsuit is going to turn mighty expensive for the RIAA. I mean, it has to run out of money sometime, right? Right?

Kids sued by RIAA seek to rope Sharman, AOL into P2P lawsuit [Ars Technica]