No Penn students have been named as defendants in the latest wave of lawsuits from the Recording Industry Association of America, but activity from the RIAA indicates that litigation may be on the way.
The RIAA recently began targeting college students as part of a continued effort to stem music piracy that has gone on for almost four years.
But though schools like the University of Michigan, Columbia University and Drexel University have been targeted, Penn has not yet received any pre-litigation letters from the RIAA, said James Choate, an official with Penn's Information Technology department.
The University has, however, received requests from the RIAA to preserve records for specific IP addresses - meaning pre-litigation letters threatening lawsuits against students could be imminent.
The RIAA has already sent 805 pre-litigation letters to 35 college campuses across the country in two waves - one on February 28 and the other on March 21.
While Choate would not speculate as to what the University would do should officials receive pre-litigation letters, he said Penn "essentially complies" with the RIAA and preserves enough information to identify individuals.
In its new method of targeting file sharers, the RIAA sends notices - called 'pre-litigation letters' - to University administrators and asks the administrators to forward these letters to the specific students whose IP addresses are identified.
The letter directs the student to go to a Web site (p2plawsuits.com) or call a specific phone number, enter a case number given on the letter, and pay an undisclosed amount to settle the case.
According to Jenni Engebretsen, a spokeswoman for the RIAA, the organization is planning on sending 1,000 letters in total by the end of April.
The RIAA will also likely continue at that pace for the foreseeable future, she said.
Each pre-litigation letter gives its recipient a 20-day grace period in which to settle with the RIAA before a lawsuit is filed.
Of the February batch - in which 400 letters were sent - the RIAA has reached settlements of an undisclosed amount with 116 students, and are finalizing the details on a number more. The rest will have John Doe lawsuits filed against them.
"Our goal is to bring [piracy] under a manageable level of control," Engebretsen said.
The recording industry's latest tactics have drawn some harsh criticism from groups who say that the RIAA is suing its best customers, and that, instead of trying to stifle new technology, they should be looking for innovative business models.
Rebecca Jeschke, a spokesperson for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that works to protect digital rights, called the RIAA's tactics "misguided."
"This is the RIAA's latest attempt to get money out of college students," she said. "If the goal is to get people to stop sharing copyrighted files, it's clear that three and a half years later it's failed."
For now, though, University administrators are encouraging students to turn to legal alternatives like the Ruckus music service instead of downloading from elsewhere.
However, many students avoid music downloaded from Ruckus because it is shackled with restrictions from Digital Rights Management. This DRM system prevents Penn students from burning their music onto CD's, transferring it to their iPods, or listening to it after graduation.
Another problem is selection.
"They don't have some of the basic things you expect," said Wharton and Engineering sophomore Jonathan Coveney, citing the lack of high-profile bands like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.
