[frgoff]

I never saw an industry thrive by suing it's customers.

Customer: A person who purchases a product or service from a vendor.

The RIAA isn't suing their customers, they are suing individuals who steal the music (Steal: To take without payment).

[paul51]

In this particular case, the thieves are current, past and future customers that have been ripped off for years by the industry. The industry would be wise to spend their resources developing a way to build their business as opposed to chasing/suing people and trying to make examples out of kids and their parents and creating counterproductive bad will.