Anonymous writes "The RIAA has settled out of court with the four students it sued last month. The lawsuits targeted the students for running file-sharing directory services, which linked to MP3s (and other files) other students were sharing from their own machines. The settlements involve cash payments by students of between $13,000 and $17,000 each, paid over the course of four years.
Seth Finkelstein's commentary is here; the CNET story is here. Seth points out that these are intimidation tactics as much as attempts to get court precedents set, and so the out-of-court settlement for (to teenagers) large amounts of cash is a perfect PR victory."