That'll Cover A Lot Of Filing Fees

Edward Fitzpatrick at The Rhode Island Journal, 3 in R.I. charged with online piracy: "In all, the Recording Industry Association of America has sued at least 108 Rhode Islanders and more than 18,000 people nationwide since September 2003." Say all those suits were to settle for somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000 — that's $90 million. Related, BoingBoing on RIAA insurance.

[Update:] One can only hope experimentation proves more reliably profitable.

[Update:] EFF, Frequently Awkward Questions for the Entertainment Industry: "The RIAA has sued over 20,000 music fans for file sharing, who have on average paid a $3,750 settlement. That's over $75,000,000." [via P2P File Sharing]