Minnesota Court Awards RIAA $1.92M for Theft of 24 Songs

Aspiring mathemagicians among you might note that this amounts to $80,000 a song, far more than than the $9,250 the RIAA originally sued Rasset for in 2007 before the case was dismissed as a mistrial. "There's no way they're going to get that," Rasset is reported to have said, calling the figure "kind of ridiculous."

The $1.92 million figure might indeed seem a little ridiculous, but keep in mind that the RIAA likely pushed for a high fine to make a statement in their ongoing war against music piracy. The RIAA has stopped suing individuals for music piracy, and has shifted their strategy to target Internet Service Providers, but there are still about 10 unresolved cases against users accused of music piracy.

Is this the beginning of the long-rumored backlash against the RIAA? Moby seems to think so. And radio maven Jerry Del Colliano mused that the only way to end illegal downloading is to "sue everybody under 30. Everybody." As Billboard reports, the huge claim could actually backfire against the RIAA; a Sony BMG exec who testified at the trial even admitted he was "shocked" by the verdict.

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