How was it not a great idea for the RIAA? I understand how many fans / customers didn't like it, but I think people kept buying the music and the RIAA's terms and definitions like 'piracy' became mainstream (I think that was from the RIAA?).
(Hillary Rosen) presented the notion of lawsuits against consumers that her successor Mitch Bainwol would turn into a course of action. Who among us hasn't wanted to slit the tendons of thieves and watch as they hemorrhage justice back to The Man?
Rosen, however, led a fruitless crusade that in the long-term was more of an attack against capitalism's progress than the defense of intellectual property rights.