The RIAA just can’t win.  It’s almost like they’re fighting an unfair, unwinnable battle that doesn’t seem to make logical sense to anyone and only exposes them for the greedy little bastards they’ve always been.  It is also costing them money, which they’re apparently losing anyway due to illegal downloading and file-sharing. So it’s a lose/lose for the RIAA.

Directly from CNet:

“The recording industry’s music piracy fight was dealt a setback Tuesday when a federal judge rejected the RIAA’s “making available” argument in a lawsuit against a husband and wife accused of copyright infringement.

In Atlantic v. Howell, Judge Neil V. Wake denied the labels’ motion for summary judgment in a 17-page decision (PDF), allowing the suit to proceed to trial. The argument–that merely the act of making music files available for download constituted copyright infringement–has been the basis for the Recording Industry Association of America’s legal battle against online music piracy.”

My disdain for the RIAA is well-documented on this blog, so I won’t get on my soapbox again.  However, I will say that this makes me very happy.  I love stories like this.