In a small victory for the little guy, the RIAA's strongarm tactics have backfired, now twice, due to their carelessness in suing thousands of people. They have been forced to pay the legal fees of a woman they improperly sued a little less than three years ago. It is a rare occurance among these RIAA cases to see action like this. The Judge for the case initially dismissed it as "frivolous and unreasonable", and now, for that as well as potentially using their standard bully tactics, the woman will be compensated:
Finding that in the face of these claims, "her only alternative to litigating ... was to capitulate to a settlement for a violation she insists she did not commit" and that "[s]uch capitulation would not advance the aims of the Copyright Act," the Court awarded Ms. Foster her attorneys fees and costs.
Will this stop the RIAA? Not a chance. But for every person that fights back, that is one more voice saying that the company has gone too far in their lawsuit campaigns.