This is the second big victory for the RIAA this month, after the even-more-ridiculous decision that filesharer Jammie Thomas should pay $80,000 per song. But unlike Thomas, Tenenbaum hasn't come out and said he will outright refuse to pay the fine, and it looks like this is a more concrete win for the RIAA dirtbags.

The RIAA specified to TorrentFreak that the money won will go to more lawsuits, not to the artists the RIAA supposedly represents. It looks like yet another episode in this long public relations attack in which the organization mercilessly kills any sympathy for their cause that might have existed. [TorrentFreak]

The decision has taken a ton of twists and turns—even after the jury had decided what Thomas had done was in fact illegal filesharing, the punishment wasn't at all clear. Originally she was to be fined for over 1,700 songs, which was then whittled down to 24 "representative" songs, and the per song fine has shot up from the initial $750 (the legal minimum) to the current $80,000.

Apparently Thomas "gasped" when the number was read out loud. We don't blame her, although our reaction was more fist-shaking and muttering about old white men in suits than sheer surprise.

The ordeal isn't over, of course—Thomas will appeal the decision and it'll probably be heard by a few more judicial levels before any final say is had. Jammie, we're pulling for you. Stand tall. Or sit down, it's easier to steal music that way. [Ars Technica]

Consumerist reader Dino's 64-year-old father had set up a rule that every email sent from his iPhone would blind-CC his personal email address. After he lost the phone, he received a mess of pictures that the kid who "found" it was taking of himself. After the story was posted on the Consumerist, other do-gooders tracked the kid down on Facebook and Hi5 and managed to get him to actually respond. The kid requested that all the pictures be taken down, and in exchange he'd return the iPhone.

This whole series of events took place in 55 minutes, which we're sure would be a record if a record existed for such a situation. Score: internet 1, photo-happy thief 0. [Consumerist]

The story said the watergun was filled with Fox urine, which according to commenters in the know, can be bought at stores as a rodent repellent. Good to know! Although the man is facing charges, I hope he gets off. Although in some cultures, if convicted, he'd almost certainly be facing a firing squad of urine filled water guns. Think about that for a second. [twincities via obscure store]

The Redmond giant is able to get its lawsuit off the ground because of a recent law update called the Computer Spyware Act, which not only bans illegal spyware, but any other program that misleads people into believing that their computers need to be fixed. The fake error messages sent to Windows users, some of whom have received over 200 a day, fall under that category.

Microsoft's asking for a fine of up to $2,000 per incident, plus restitution and attorney's fees. Considering half of the customer support calls it receives are related to spyware crashes, that's a lot of money. But whether the suit will deter “scareware” purveyors is still up in the air. In 2006, Microsoft filed a similar case against the same people and won... to little effect it seems. [Dailytech]