The RIAA's use of a company named MediaSentry Inc. to gather evidence against individuals in copyright infringement cases also drew criticism from state and university officials who accused MediaSentry of operating as a private investigator without required state licenses.

Apart from Myers in Oregon, MediaSentry's credentials were questioned by the administration at Central Michigan University, North Carolina's Private Protective Services Board and the Massachusetts State Police, which asked the company to cease and desist its investigative activities in that state. MediaSentry's parent company, Belcamp, Md.-based SafeNet Inc., defended itself in September, rejecting contentions that it needed to obtain private investigator's licenses to continue carrying out its work on behalf of the RIAA.

The statutes that the RIAA has used to pursue its lawsuits provide for financial penalties ranging from $750 to $150,000 per song, leaving people who challenged the trade group in court at risk of being assessed crippling damages if they lost. For example, a single mother in Duluth, Minn., named Jammie Thomas was ordered by a federal jury last year to pay the RIAA $222,000 for illegally copying and distributing 24 songs.

In September, that verdict was overturned on a technicality by the trial judge, who ordered a new trial in the case. But the damages award underscored the enormous financial impact that the RIAA's lawsuits could have on defendants.

On the other hand, the judge's decision also handed the RIAA a significant setback: As part of the ruling that overturned the jury verdict, he also rejected the trade group's contention that simply making songs available for download in a shared computer folder constitutes illegal distribution. He was the third federal judge to do so -- a series of rulings that RIAA critics said undermined one of the pillars of its legal strategy.