Ouch.
Our friends at the RIAA are appealing a ruling they lost last year. In this case, they filed a lawsuit against a user who had allegedly shared copyrighted information on a file sharing network. They lost the ruling because the alleged infraction was committed by someone else who had access to the accused's ISP account.
The RIAA is now arguing that the owner of the ISP account should be responsible for all file / data activity on the account. This poses a challenge for shared account owners (your home, for example) or open Wi-Fi networks hosted by communities or businesses. Think your local community center, city park or church.
Wired News reports: "RIAA Fights Back, Threatens Open Wi-Fi".