Los Angeles - Jammie Thomas, the 30-year-old mother of two who last week was ordered to pay $220,000 in damages in the first of the recording industry's file-sharing lawsuits to go to a jury trial, has announced that she will appeal the verdict.

Speaking to CNN, Thomas' attorney Brian Toder said the appeal will focus on the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) legal argument that simply the "making available" of songs in a shared folder on a file-sharing network constitutes infringement, even if no proof that anyone downloaded the songs is provided.

"[Toder] also explained how if we win, this would stop the RIAA dead in their tracks!," Thomas wrote on her MySpace blog.

"Every single suit they have brought has been based on this making available theory, and if we can win this appeal, they would actually have to prove a file was shared and by someone other than their own licensed agent."

Thomas maintains that she has never uploaded or downloaded music on a file-sharing network, despite evidence at the trial showing a Kazza account with the username "tereastarr," which Thomas also uses on e-mail and for website logins.

A website set up for Thomas' defense at FreeJammie.com has so far raised over $3,800.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2uoczb (Jammie Thomas MySpace blog)

http://tinyurl.com/2ko9wa (DMW previous coverage)

http://www.freejammie.com