For the third time—the original decision and two subsequent appeals—the RIAA has lost its bid to force ISPs to uncover the identities of its customers alleged to have illegally shared music files. this ruling does not stop the RIAA from suing individuals, but forces it to continue its labor-intensive and relatively expensive method of working each case through the courts to divulge the identities of its targets.

More broadly, the appeals decision reinforces an important principle of safe harbor: in this case, that ISPs cannot be held responsible for the content which passes through their pipes. It is this same principle which has protected targeted file-sharing companies in their lawsuits. The more precedent accumulated on the side of safe harbor, the more protection society has from content companies taking the law into their hands. Suing individuals through due court process might be bad business, but it is at least regulated by good law. It is time for the labels to get over themselves and drop this quixotic case. They cannot push around telecom companies and trample on consumer rights just because they are sad about copyright infringement.