RIAA's so-called victory a double edged sword

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) won a legal battle as a Minnesota jury found a woman liable for downloading music. The penalty: $220,000 in damages for downloading 24 songs illegally.

The New York Times calls the RIAA decision "a crucial legal victory for record labels and other copyright owners." Other reports (see Techmeme) come down on the "RIAA is evil" side of the equation. Declan McCullagh breaks down how the RIAA won.

But there's a broader business picture that's missing. The issue: The RIAA's so-called victory comes at a bad time. Music piracy is theft, but suing customers isn't a good business move. Meanwhile, the music industry is actually making some strides--labels are ditching DRM, business model experiments abound and there is a growing file of evidence that the industry has a clue.

And then the verdict against Jammie Thomas, the Minnesota woman, hits and any recent goodwill from the music industry goes flying out the window. We're back to equating the music industry with lawsuits again. The Times reports that record labels have brought legal action against 3,000 people since 2003. The average settlement occurs out of court for about $4,000. That adds up to $12 million not counting legal expenses. Is it really worth it?

For this effort, the RIAA has alienated consumers and has looked progressively worse compared to other content companies. Say what you will about television broadcasters, but the likes of ABC, NBC and CBS are hellbent on not making the same mistakes as the RIAA. The TV industry is throwing multiple models against the Web wall to see what sticks. A lot more gets done when you're not suing everybody all of the time.