Actually, in the Arizona case, the main charge was that the person accused was sharing the files on Kazaa. He claimed that even though he was using Kazaa, the files were not being shared and were for personal use only. The RIAA called baloney on his claim they weren't being shared, he lost the case, but the original decision has since been vacated and the case has been reopened.
From
ars technica back in August on the original decision:
"In his summary judgment, Judge Neil V. Wake dismissed the Howell's arguments and handed the RIAA $40,500 in statutory damages, $350 in court costs, and a permanent injunction against future copyright infringement by the Howells. "Several cases suggest that Kazaa users commit direct infringement by employing the Kazaa program to make their collections of copyrighted sound recordings available to all other Kazaa users," wrote Judge Wake, citing three other cases as well as Howell's deposition in which he admitted ownership of the Kazaa account in question."
From what I've read so far, the ripped = illegal is part of throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall to see what sticks and is more based on splitting very fine hairs over when the RIAA has a problem with files being ripped; and that mostly seems to revolve around anything that has even a whiff of commercial use, redistributing or cracking in place DRM.
Even the
RIAA's own site makes a grudging allowance for some copying, including copies to your computer:
"
Copying CDs
It’s okay to copy music onto an analog cassette, but not for commercial purposes.
It’s also okay to copy music onto special Audio CD-R’s, mini-discs, and digital tapes (because royalties have been paid on them) – but, again, not for commercial purposes.
Beyond that, there’s no legal "right" to copy the copyrighted music on a CD onto a CD-R. However, burning a copy of CD onto a CD-R,
or transferring a copy onto your computer hard drive or your portable music player, won’t usually raise concerns so long as:
- The copy is made from an authorized original CD that you legitimately own
- The copy is just for your personal use. It’s not a personal use – in fact, it’s illegal – to give away the copy or lend it to others for copying.
- The owners of copyrighted music have the right to use protection technology to allow or prevent copying.
- Remember, it’s never okay to sell or make commercial use of a copy that you make."
We'll see how the next judge rules.