RIAA targets 16 more students for file sharing

Yet another round of pre-litigation letters from the Recording Industry Association of America hit Penn students last week.

The RIAA, which represents the country's major music labels, continued its legal onslaught against college students last week, sending pre-litigation letters to 16 Penn students and 401 other students across the country.

Over the last year, 64 Penn students have received letters, which threaten illegal downloaders with a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement unless the offenders choose to settle at a "discounted rate" - usually about $3,000.

Of those 64, 20 have settled or are nearing an agreement and 27 others are being sued, according to an RIAA spokesperson. The remaining students are in the preliminary stages of the process.

As the RIAA tries to curb illegal downloading, the organization has focused mainly on student offenders, sending almost 4,000 letters to college campuses since February.

The RIAA picks out IP addresses where file-sharing has occurred and asks colleges to forward the letters to students that match the IP addresses. If the student does not settle, the RIAA usually subpoenas the university to release the student's name so that a lawsuit can be filed.

But the RIAA suffered a setback in its campaign against file-sharing last week when a federal judge said the organization must explain its reasons for subpoenaing colleges.

In a case involving 19 students at George Washington University, the defendants argued that the legislation the RIAA uses to obtain file-sharers' names, called the Cable Communications Policy Act, only applies to cable companies.

Federal District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has since ordered the RIAA to show just cause for why the act also applies to universities, giving the organization until Nov. 29 to respond.

If Kollar-Kotelly doesn't find the RIAA's reasoning compelling, it would provide a blow to a key facet of the organization's recent legal tactics.

It could also have implications for the way the RIAA sues illegal downloaders. Critics allege that the organization often issues the subpoenas without giving the defendants a chance to respond, called an ex parte subpoena.

"This is a viable [legal] option for students everywhere," copyright lawyer Ray Beckerman said. "They should be pooling their resources and taking action to stop this ex parte nonsense."

And while some universities have said they will help students fight the subpoenas, Penn officials say the University will continue to forward letters they receive from the RIAA. Once the student has a letter, the University is no longer involved, said University information-security officer Dave Millar.

"If somebody has received an early settlement notice it's between them and the recording industry," he said.

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