So all the RIAA needs to do is to sue the username in the state CBS is headquartered. RIAA gets your account IP. This is assuming CBS just doesn't give it to them. Now they have the user's ip address, so its just a normal file sharing lawsuit.
And does it matter whether they have sufficient evidence for a lawsuit? As you mentioned it's probably sufficient evidence for a settlement. And nobody wants to hire a lawyer and fight the RIAA over a few grand.
1. RIAA finds your ip address and a song that had the same name as a copyrighted work.
2. RIAA sues hundreds of John Does in the state where the ISP is located.
3. The RIAA subpoenas the account info, gets it (since the defendant doesn't show up to fight it), and drops the lawsuit.
4. The RIAA sends a settlement offer to the John Doe, since they know the name and address. The RIAA sues if there is no settlement.
http://digitalmusic.weblogsinc.com/2006/08/07/the-riaa-vs-jo...
So all the RIAA needs to do is to sue the username in the state CBS is headquartered. RIAA gets your account IP. This is assuming CBS just doesn't give it to them. Now they have the user's ip address, so its just a normal file sharing lawsuit.
And does it matter whether they have sufficient evidence for a lawsuit? As you mentioned it's probably sufficient evidence for a settlement. And nobody wants to hire a lawyer and fight the RIAA over a few grand.