Recording industry targeting universities in music piracy

Students illegally downloading music are being subpoenaed by their IP address, RIAA says

By: Jake Daggett

Posted: 3/6/07

The Recording Industry Association of America is trying to sink student music piracy.

According to a recent study by the Intellectual Property Institute at the University of Richmond, more than 50 percent of college students download illegally. The study also showed that students use peer-to-peer file sharing programs like

LimeWire more than anything else.

The RIAA recently announced a nationwide crackdown on college students illegally downloading music which included sending 400 letters to 13 universities - including two schools in the Pac-10: University of Southern California and Arizona State University - across the country informing the recipients of out-of-court settlements they are being offered.

The RIAA's Web site says that piracy for personal use can earn someone three years in prison and $250,000 in fines, after which one can be sued in civil court for another $150,000.

The "John Doe" subpoenas identify the music pirates by their computers' internet-protocol numbers, seeking the student's name unless they take the out-of-court settlement.

Cary Sherman, President of RIAA, said on the Web site, "Because we know that some audiences - particularly campus music downloaders - can sometimes be impervious to even the most compelling educational messages or legal alternatives, these new efforts aim to help students recognize that the consequences for illegal downloading are more real than ever before."

"I think there is a pretty strong message, if you get a music file you should pay for it," said Todd Simmons, university spokesman.

"I feel like I was in middle school when this first happened," said Jessica Breedlove, a junior in fine arts.

"It's a scare tactic," said Lindsay Jordan, a senior also studying fine arts.

"I don't think the new artists mind. When they do I don't mind waiting a few days to go buy the CD," said Rachael Blasi, a junior in fine arts.

"I'd rather have the physical CD anyway," Breedlove said.

"Unless the band can't make an entire album that I like," Jordan added.

Illegal downloading is considered mostly harmless by many students. Yet the city of Los Angeles may beg to differ.

The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation released a study that said in 2005, global counterfeiting and piracy cost local businesses $5.2 billion, and the city $480 million in taxes.

"We understand that no deterrence or education program will 'solve' piracy. Our job is to provide sufficient oxygen for the legal marketplace to show its true promise," said Mitch Bainwol, Chairman and CEO of the RIAA on the Web site. "The theft of music remains unacceptably high and undermines the industry's ability to invest in new music."

"The students need to know if they get caught they are going to get sued," said Jonathan Dolan, assistant director of network services at OSU.

A copy of a John Doe subpoena states that the minimum damage under the Copyright Act is $750 per downloaded file.

"Between 2004 and 2005 the RIAA has sued over 8,000 people. The vast majority of them settled out of court," Dolan said.

The RIAA is also asking network administrators to keep "IP logs," keeping track of the Internet activity of students receiving the John Doe subpoenas, a prospect which some students find unsettling.

"That's an invasion of privacy," Breedlove said.

This is a statement the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that works to protect "digital rights," agrees with.

"Those log files can serve as Internet bread crumbs - any third party that has access to them can retrace your online activities," said Cindy Cohn, the Electric Frontier Foundation's legal director on the Web site.

As an Internet provider, OSU isn't legally responsible for what its students do on the online. However, students agree to an Acceptable Use Policy to get their ONID e-mail account - which clearly forbids illegal file sharing.

"There's a certain amount of due process that is being bypassed," Dolan said. "[RIAA] is trying to have us give our students legal advice. Which isn't our place. They should talk to a lawyer."

"The philosophy of OSU, that is pretty consistent," Simmons said. "We rely on the student's judgment. We don't often step in, and our students by-and-large don't let us down."