Chalk up One for the Good Guys

If you haven't heard, the RIAA decided that it didn't want to risk fighting a case in court, and the case of Atlantic v. Andersen (PDF) has been dropped. Both sides agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice. This is a great victory for everyone that has been falsely targeted in the RIAA's carpet bombing approach of filing lawsuits. Ars makes a good point.

What's unusual is that the RIAA has stipulated to a dismissal with prejudice,
completely exonerating Andersen. Next to a negative verdict, an exonerated
defendant is the last thing the RIAA wants. When faced with an undesirable outcome, the RIAA's tactic has been to move to dismiss without prejudice, a "no harm, no foul" strategy that puts an end to a lawsuit without declaring a winner and a loser. Dismissing a case with prejudice opens the RIAA up to an attorneys' fee
award, which happened in the case of another woman caught in the
music industry's driftnet, Debbie Foster.

This is especially great news when you consider that. It is close to the RIAA admiding that they were wrong. True, not exactly the same thing, but it still exonerates the defendant, which is wonderful. I hope that Andersen is able to fully recover all of the fees taht she's had to pay during this two year legal battle. I also hope that she can serve as inspiration to others to stand up against the RIAA when they knew that they've done nothing wrong.