A Minnesota jury has found Minnesota mother of four, Jammie Thomas, guilty of copyright infringement. She’s on the hook for $1.92 MILLION dollars for illegally downloading and sharing 24 songs, available on iTunes and Amazon for $.99.

The verdict, coming after two days of testimony and about five hours of deliberations, was a mixed victory for the RIAA, which has brought more than 20,000 lawsuits in the last four years as part of its zero-tolerance policy against pirating. The outcome is likely to embolden the RIAA, which began targeting individuals in lawsuits after concluding the legal system could not keep pace with the ever growing number of file-sharing sites and services.

“This is what can happen if you don’t settle,” RIAA attorney Richard Gabriel told reporters outside the courthouse. “I think we have sent a message we are willing to go to trial.”

Wow, what a tool. That’s what you say after ruining the financial future of a woman and her 4 children over 24 crappy mp3 files? Really?

I wonder how much of that money Richard and the RIAA will give to the artists? Here’s what the high-powered array of Guitarbalooga supercomputers predicts: $0.

Update: July 4, 2009

Looks like Jammie is going to appeal this verdict.

It’s official: Jammie Thomas-Rasset intends to appeal her case, one of her lawyers told CNET News on Wednesday.

“She’s not interested in settling,” attorney Joe Sibley said in a brief phone interview. “She wants to take the issue up on appeal on the constitutionality of the damages. That’s one of the main arguments–that the damages are disproportionate to any actual harm.”

Good for her. The RIAA’s strategy is backfiring in a big way and earning them thousands in pointless fees and untold bad publicity. She’s risking a great deal by doing this. If she loses, she’ll face bankruptcy, which is no small thing and something she’ll have to explain time and time again to claw her way out of the bad-credit hole.

This case is a pissing contest that no one will win regardless of the verdict. Oh, except the lawyers.