How much does it cost to catch a music pirate?

Variety (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117968691.html?categoryid=16&cs=1&nid=2567) ran an interesting article on the real costs of combating piracy. As you might expect, the cost of catching the pirate greatly outweighs the earnings from the pirate's demise. But I never dreamed how far the industry would go and how much they would spend to bring down a single pirate. You know what the worst part was?

The pirate turned out to be a legitimate music consumer who had done nothing wrong!

"A federal judge has ordered Capitol Records to pay nearly $70,000 to cover the attorney fees and litigation costs of a woman the company unsuccessfully sued for illegal downloading."

This ruling is a first of its kind. Never before have labels been forced to reimburse people for the RIAA's constant anti-consumer attacks. The RIAA's response almost seems as though they don't really see anything wrong with persecuting innocent people.

"We respectfully believe that this ruling is in error and is an isolated occurrence. Our interest in these cases is enforcing the rights of the record companies and artists, while fostering an online environment where the legal marketplace can flourish and the music industry can invest in the new bands of tomorrow. In the handful of cases where the person engaging in the illegal activity in the household is not the person responsible for the ISP account, we look to gather the facts quickly and do our best to identify the appropriate defendant."

If that is true, then why was this woman dragged into court for the past 3 years to defend herself from a false charge? That doesn't seem like the RIAA "gathered the facts quickly" to resolve the issue.

Its about time someone stepped in to shield the consumer. Stopping piracy is one thing, but 3 years to prove innocence for stealing music, that's ridiculous!