Penn officials have declined to name two individuals charged in a Dec. 16 lawsuit brought on by the Recording Industry Association of America, citing an inability to find the appropriate information.
The two individuals -- both identified only by their computer's Internet Protocol address -- are accused of illegally uploading copyrighted music files onto Internet filesharing networks.
"Records weren't sufficient to identify those individual users," said Phyllis Holtzman, a University spokeswoman.
A subpoena had required the University to turn the names over to the RIAA by yesterday, the end of the legally mandated 30-day grace period for the accused.
The two individuals at Penn were among 754 that the RIAA filed lawsuits against on Dec. 16 in a major wave of litigation. The defendants included Internet users at other universities such as Columbia University, Old Dominion University, the State University of West Georgia,Westchester University and Widener University.
First launched in Sep. 2003, such lawsuits are part of the RIAA's campaign to stem the tide of illegal downloading. Since then, more than 7,700 filesharers have been sued.
According to RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy, individuals who upload copyrighted music onto the Internet are randomly selected for the lawsuits. Downloading, on the other hand, is impossible to trace.
The RIAA filed similar lawsuits against six other Penn individuals in Mar. 2004. The University only released one of the names, making the same claim that no information was available about the other five.
Holtzman denied that the University is purposely flouting the RIAA, She said that the University could turn future filesharers over to the RIAA.
