Analysis of the RIAA's victory over Jammie Thomas doesn't have to be long, folks.
• Thomas got what was coming to her. She was obviously guilty.
• The size of the award — $220,000 in actual (not punitive) damages for 24 shared files — is laughably out of touch with reality.
• This victory is the RIAA's money shot after years of lobbying, rent-seeking, bankrolling politicians and other legal and legislative maneuvering. Nailing consumers for piracy is no longer untested law: it's now backed by precedent.
• The victory is Pyhrric. The record industry is so obviously corrupt and immoral that most people either see thieving from it as a virtue, or are indifferent to its misfortunes. Once an exemplar of venture capitalism's driving spirit, the record industry is now nothing more than an economic and legal parasite.
• CTRL-C, CTRL-V. It's not hard to remember.
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