Tell Them What They've Won, Zandar

Congratulations, Recording Industry Artists of America! You've convinced a jury that downloading music off the internet is one of the most expensive and dangerous crimes in history!

A federal jury Thursday found a 32-year-old Minnesota woman guilty of illegally downloading music from the Internet and fined her $80,000 each -- a total of $1.9 million -- for 24 songs.

Jammie Thomas-Rasset's case was the first such copyright infringement case to go to trial in the United States, her attorney said.

Attorney Joe Sibley said that his client was shocked at the fine, noting that the price tag on the songs she downloaded was 99 cents.

She plans to appeal, he said.

Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said the association was "pleased that the jury agreed with the evidence and found the defendant liable."

So, you've basically destroyed an American family and whatever goodwill you had left among rational people, declaring that stealing music is worthy of an eight million percent damage markup over the value of the actual item. You guys must be hell on CD shoplifters then.

I honestly hope in the appeal, there's a countersuit for emotional distress on the part of Thomas-Rasset. I hope she bankrupts you guys.