RIAA Cracking Down on Illegal College Downloads
WASHINGTON — The Recording Industry Association of America sent more than 400 pre-litigation settlement letters in its latest effort to curb illegal downloads on universities.
The RIAA sent about 5,400 letters to students since February 2007 as part of its deterrence program. The letters offer students the option to settle and pay fines. If the students don’t respond within 20 days a lawsuit is brought against them. More than 2,300 settlements were made, 2,465 formal lawsuits were filed and about 150 universities have received letters, according to the RIAA.
Indiana University received 40 letters, and Columbia University and the University of Southern California each received 50 letters in March.
A survey found that more than 50 percent of students downloaded music and movies through illegal Web sites and applications such as BitTorrent, Ares and Limewire. Another study conducted by market research firm NPD Group reported college students were responsible for more than 1.3 billion illegal music downloads in 2006.
The United State’s economy allegedly lost $12.5 billion in revenue, more than 71,000 jobs and $2 billion in wages because of piracy, according to the Institute for Policy Innovation.
University of Florida officials are working to curb illegal downloads at their campus with changes to technology systems. School officials report the steps have saved the university more than $1 million on network management costs.
“In the end, we have two duties as educators regarding the data connections we provide to students,” said Norbert W. Dunkel, director of housing and residence education at the University of Florida, during a recent hearing. “First, we have a duty to educate our students as to the acceptable use of their computer and the network. Second, we have a duty to be good stewards in maintaining the technological infrastructure that we provide students.”
University of Tennessee officials and state officials are working to halt illegal downloading after the RIAA reported the campus has the fourth-highest number of illegal downloads.
Under a new bill being considered by the Tennessee Legislature, colleges that receive state funding would be required to ensure computer networks are not being used to download copyrighted materials, including music and movies.
If funding is provided for new hardware, software and staff to prevent illegal downloads, universities could implement the new rules, school officials say. However, they say that agreeing to monitor Internet use could pose legal problems if the university fails to stop illegal downloads.
A similar bill that is under review would require schools to monitor networks to see whether students are using them for illegal downloads. If students were abusing the networks the schools would be responsible for installing hardware and software to block the illegal activity.