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The RIAA has faced another loss in their plethora of John Doe lawsuits. A woman who has been fighting them for the past two and a half years and made the news several times over the course of her fight has been awarded attorney's fees for her struggle against the giant. The Judge in the case made a particularly nasty remark about the company and their tactics, which I found amusing:

He said that if the RIAA was allowed to get away with this sort of legal bullying, "members of the public would be more hesitant to use the Internet to share creative works in general, regardless of whether their specific conduct violated copyright law or occupied an area yet to be addressed by copyright law."
While one individual case is not much to get worked up over, this is the second high-profile case in which this has occurred. It may be marking a significant turn of events for the RIAA, who face having thousands of people fight back if they get wind of little the RIAA has to run on. These events were set in motion several months ago, in which the woman sought class-action status for her claim against them.

My hope is that people learn about this – particularly those who come under the RIAA's steely gaze – and fight back. Whether it is viruses or spyware or the threat of getting sued, there is too much fear on the Internet, which is a shame.