Fighting the RIAA → Re: Good luck!

I'm not. If I were charged, even if I were completely innocent (which I would be), I would likely settle also. The reason I say that is because I wouldn't have the time or money to fight a lengthy legal battle against the RIAA's well-paid lawyers. Even if I won, I would likely just get an "oops" and possible legal fees paid from the RIAA. Meanwhile, my reputation would be tarnished from RIAA press releases calling me a pirate and my free time spent fighting the case would be gone forever. (Not to mention any vacation time I would need to take off to fight them.)

I'm with you on this one. My family went through something similar with DirecTV. Just hope that you aren't mistakenly added to the list the RIAA keeps.

You can't win this battle and if you have anything at all to lose, you can't afford to risk it. It's mighty brave of the high school or college student to rant about what they would do if faced with such charges, but those with a family and a house would stand to lose everything they own in a court battle that would likely last a decade.

What the RIAA will do is send a 50-page legal document that only a team of lawyers can interpret. Once that is perused and complied to, the RIAA will then send a 100-page document with more legal gobbledygook. This paperwork can tie up an entire medium-sized law firm. No lawyer is going to dedicate his time and resources to such a challenge without proper compensation, usually in the form of money.

The only reasonable course of action to take is to settle. Most lawyers simply can't afford to fight such a huge corporation with deep pockets and an abundant amount of legal resources. The best thing any lawyer can do for most people is to try and work out the best possible settlement for the least amount of money.

It's frustrating and wrong, but it's the reality of things for the moment.