Judge orders Villanova U. to deliver names in RIAA case

Penn students who have illegally downloaded and shared music files online are starting to bite their nails.

Any day now, their names could be handed over to the courts with a list of other alleged illegal file sharers who use Penn's internet service, PennNet, to trade music and movie files. The Recording Industry of America Association is in the midst of a sweeping series of lawsuits that encompass file-sharing students at area universities.

Right now, the lawsuit identifies those sued solely by their computers' Internet Protocol addresses.

The only thing standing between the court and the actual names of the Penn students involved in the lawsuit is a judge for the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania. The judge has yet to rule on a motion for expedited discovery originally filed at the end of March of this year.

If granted, the motion legally requires the University to hand over the names that correspond to the IP numbers.

"The courts move at their own timeline," said Robert Terrell, an associate general counsel for Penn.

"You can't predict when it will be ruled on," he added.

For Villanova University students, whose case was assigned to a different judge, the waiting is over.

"The judge has issued a ruling, granting the motion for discovery," said Debbie Fickler, a member of Villanova's general counsel.

Drexel University's case was assigned to yet a third judge. Laurie Bachich, an attorney on Drexel's general counsel, has not yet received word of a ruling on the motion.

"They keep telling me another few weeks," she said. She estimates that it will take two weeks.

Still, the Drexel students who will be sued have been notified.

"The university knows who the students are, and it can give them a heads up and time to prepare," Bachich said.

"Then the students can contact the company to settle."

Once contacted, the RIAA referred all of the Drexel cases to the Settlement Support Center, a group of lawyers who specialize in settling.

Bachich is unsure of the students' plans, but she said that their attorneys "took the Settlement Support Center number and information."

The number of college students sued thus far is low. Drexel had only three students whose IP addresses were identified by the RIAA.

The RIAA has been initiating lawsuits against illegal file sharers since last fall. Most who have been sued choose to settle at an average cost of $3,000 per individual.

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