You know what the say about assume

Poor Lorraine Sullivan. She assumed that because Kazaa is still operating, it is perfectly legal to download songs off of it:

Lorraine Sullivan, a college student from New York, testified that she put up a Web site asking for advice after the RIAA filed a lawsuit against her earlier this month. About $600 in donations from Internet users helped her pay off a $2,500 settlement with the RIAA that she negotiated down from a higher amount, she said.

Sullivan accused the makers of MP3 players and others of misleading consumers about downloading music by encouraging users to share music files. She believed because Kazaa was still operating, trading files on its service was legal, she said.

While some of the 261 alleged file traders are probably guilty, there may be a reason non-traders are being swept up in the RIAA “raids”, according to this white paper. (PDF file)