Um...no.
The actions are illegal when committed. You cannot be punished until adjudicated, but the action was still illegal.
That's pretty much my point re: legality. The chances of being sued / prosecuted probably are pretty small for the average user. But it's still illegal, for better or worse; and I don't think I would want to set an example that stealing is okay because I don't happen to like the parties being stolen from.
As for the chances of adjudication, I think some history may help shed light on this.
Starting, oh, maybe eight or nine years ago, RIAA began taking action against individual P2P users. At first, they targeted users who were sharing ponderous numbers of songs. The logic was that the damages in these cases would be multiplied by the number of users who downloaded songs
from these users, rather than just the number they downloaded themselves.
This still is the basis for the seemingly outrageous awards: A user may only have a few dozen illegally downloaded songs, but they may have shared those songs with thousands of other users who (according to the plaintiffs) otherwise would have had to pay for those songs. Of course, this is a dubious assumption: It's doubtful whether most users would have the money to pay for all the songs they download for free using P2P, much less be willing to spend it. But it's still the basis they use as a starting point when calculating alleged damages.
In the last few years, however, RIAA seems to have changed part of their strategy. They now have started targeting users with far fewer songs, on the assumption (as Mike pointed out) that this strategy will be more effective at discouraging average users. It's basically a scare tactic, and the chances of any particular user being singled out for litigation is still pretty small. But it does exist.
Yes, some users who are truly committed to P2P go to extraordinary lengths to do so with impunity, such as by using anonymous proxy services or other strategies to try to obfuscate their identities. And most likely, these people will never be caught. The RIAA doesn't waste their time with these people when there's so much low-hanging fruit waiting to be picked. But these highly-committed, highly-motivated, highly-sophisticated users represent a tiny fraction of the total. Most P2P users are kids. They see an opportunity to get free music, and they jump on it.
So what should you do? Well, I'm not the type of person who tells other people how to live. "Live and let live," I say. Just running my own life in a reasonably moral manner most of the time is a full-time job. But when asked about P2P, my standard answers are: Yes, it does present a potential risk to your computer; yes, it is illegal to share copyrighted materials; and yes, there is a risk, however small it may be, that users can be sued (or possibly even prosecuted) for doing so. As for the rest, I think it's up to every individual's conscience.
-Rich
