Chicago women loses appeal against RIAA

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected Cecilia Gonzalez’ argument that she was only sampling downloaded music. After she rejecting an earlier settlement of $3500, Gonzalez now has to pay $22,500. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sued Gonzalez after she downloaded "at least 1370" copyrighted songs from the Kazaa file-sharing network.

Gonzalez, a mother of five, was one of the first people targeted by the RIAA in a string of lawsuits against peer to peer network users. In a lower court a judge ruled that Gonzalez must pay $750 each for thirty songs she downloaded. In an appeal, the 7th Circuit Court has upheld the judgment.