Twenty days. That's how long the Recording Industry Association of America gave Lindsey, a College junior, to decide if she wanted to pay a little or a lot.
After receiving a pre-litigation letter in mid-November from the RIAA accusing her of illegally downloading 1,927 songs, Lindsey - who asked that her real name be withheld for privacy reasons - had less than a month to research her options.
In the end, she decided to settle for the "discounted rate" of $3,000 instead of going to court. Lindsey, who claims the actual number of songs downloaded on her computer was far less than the nearly 2,000 alleged by the RIAA, said she decided to settle because she "figured the hassle of going to court outweighed the small chance that the lawsuit would go my way."
If Lindsey had not settled within 20 days, her settlement fee would have drastically risen, or the RIAA could have filed a lawsuit against her for copyright infringement.
Lindsey is one of nearly 4,000 college students to whom the RIAA has sent pre-litigation letters since last Feb. The RIAA sends the letters to colleges, asking officials to match names to IP addresses and forward the settlement offers to the alleged offenders.
When weighing her options, Lindsey consulted two lawyers, who said her best bet was to pool resources with other students in the same situation and hire a lawyer collectively, but Lindsey said she had no idea how to contact the other 15 students who had received settlement letters in Nov.
In total, 64 Penn students have received pre-litigation notices.
Lindsey expressed frustrations with Penn's policies regarding the letters. Unlike some universities, Penn complies with the RIAA by forwarding all letters to the alleged infringers.
Penn did not offer her legal support, Lindsey said, and had also previously threatened her with academic probation.
"I really love Penn but this gave me a sour feeling about the school," Lindsey said. However, she said she was somewhat relieved when the Office of Student Conduct dropped its charges against her.
Though Lindsey said she was relieved the ordeal was over, she wonders if she might have done more good by putting up a fight.
Settling was "definitely the easiest option, but I feel guilty that in the long run maybe I could have made a difference challenging them," she said.
