Arizona's Jeffrey Howell did several dumb things on his way to being ordered to pay the RIAA a $40,500 fine for downloading songs such as "Waiting For A Girl Like You," "Money For Nothing," and "Sweet Child O' Mine" using peer-to-peer file-sharing service Kazaa. The first was downloading Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" when he could have turned on a classic rock station and waited 15 minutes to hear the overplayed song twice. An even bigger mistake was wiping his hard drive after a Judge ordered him not to. But Howell's worst mistake?

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's attorney, Fred von Lohmann, it was his refusal to hire a lawyer who could represent him in court. "I think if Howell had an expert and lawyer to speak for him, he would have told a different story," von Lohmann told Ars Technica. Now Howell owes $40,500 in damages, plus 2.12 percent interest until he pays it off. On top of that, he has to pay the court $350 in costs. That's a lot of used Guns N' Roses CDs.

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