Music lobby: We'll target home Wi-Fi

If the RIAA has its way, you could be prosecuted if hackers use your home wireless network for things such as downloading copyrighted music or sending spam. Once again, the entertainment industry needs to be stopped.

According to Wired, Debbie Foster was sued for allegedly sharing copyrighted material on a P2P network -- but the infringment was committed by someone piggybacking onto her home wireless network.

Foster managed to get the case against her dismissed and was even able to get the recording industry to pay her lawyers' fees, which were over $50,000.

So far, so good. After all, Foster was the victim here. First, someone piggybacked onto her wireless network without her knowledge; then, the RIAA goons came after her.

But the RIAA isn't letting things rest. Ars technica reports that the RIAA is appealing the ruling, arguing that even though she didn't know about the infringement, she should still be liable.

If the recording industry has its way, if someone cracks your wireless network and uses it for sharing copyrighted files -- or apparently for other nefarious purposes, such as sending spam -- you should be liable for the crime.

That's a bit like arguing if someone breaks into your house, ransacks it, and uses your phone to blackmail someone, you should be arrested for blackmail. But no one has ever argued that the RIAA made much sense.

The courts need to stop this one, and fast. Prosecuting the victim of a crime rather than the perpertrator isn't the way justice should be done.