Patricia Santangelo made headlines as the first person to go to court with the RIAA instead of timidly settling charges of copyright infringement. In April, her lawsuit was dismissed. But instead of quietly forgetting the entanglement, the RIAA decided to go after Patricia's children, Michelle and Robert, for alleged illegal file-sharing. Now for the fun twist. The Santangelos are looking to name Kazaa operator Sharman Networks and AOL, the family's Internet service provider, as third-party defendants in the case Elektra v. Santangelo.

The Santangelo family, in other words, is essentially blaming Kazaa and AOL for their file-sharing legal woes. The motion claims Kazaa "'operates in the background of one's computer' while 'recklessly disregarding copyright law' in order to ensnare 'unsuspecting users into unintended sharing.'" AOL is held accountable for its failure to protect the children by preventing known file-sharing. Even if Robert Santangelo's best friend hadn't ratted him out, it's hard to believe that the kids, who were 15 and 11 at the time, didn't realize what was going on. "Free" music is the whole point of Kazaa. In this case, ignorance of the law is not just no excuse — it's downright pathetic. (Photo by Chaz Larson)

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