2008 Woodie Awards
RIAA investigates students
Alyson Browning
Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: News
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The trend for acquiring music in college is to get it for as little cost as possible; however, the cost may be more for illegal music downloaders than if the college students acquired music legally.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has begun investigating and filing lawsuits against individuals at universities who use file-sharing software. The RIAA has targeted universities in the past, but now have started singling out individuals who have violated copyrights.
"We have informed schools of effective network technologies and partnership opportunities with legitimate services," said RIAA President Cary Sherman in a Feb. 28 letter to university presidents. "We have stepped up our notice program to alert schools and students of infringing activity. And, of course, we have as a last resort brought suit against individual file-traffickers."
The association is not looking to file lawsuits, but to correct the overall problem of illegal music downloads. The RIAA has forewarned universities of its search for illegal downloaders in order to give the schools a chance to inform students.
"We are hopeful that, by providing early notification … we can greatly diminish the need for litigation," said Sherman.
The RIAA is not only helping students rid their computers of illegally downloaded music before they can be litigated, but students who are found to have illegal downloads will have the opportunity to settle claims before a lawsuit is filed against them.
"Our new litigation process will allow individuals we find illegally uploading or downloading copyrighted works on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network the opportunity to settle claims before we file a 'Doe' suit against them," said Sherman. "We will continue to do all we can to encourage our fans to enjoy music legally, both on campus and more broadly by the general public."
According to Bob McGlasson, vice president for Information and Technology Services, SBU has not received a letter stating that there has been a violation on the SBU campus.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has begun investigating and filing lawsuits against individuals at universities who use file-sharing software. The RIAA has targeted universities in the past, but now have started singling out individuals who have violated copyrights.
"We have informed schools of effective network technologies and partnership opportunities with legitimate services," said RIAA President Cary Sherman in a Feb. 28 letter to university presidents. "We have stepped up our notice program to alert schools and students of infringing activity. And, of course, we have as a last resort brought suit against individual file-traffickers."
The association is not looking to file lawsuits, but to correct the overall problem of illegal music downloads. The RIAA has forewarned universities of its search for illegal downloaders in order to give the schools a chance to inform students.
"We are hopeful that, by providing early notification … we can greatly diminish the need for litigation," said Sherman.
The RIAA is not only helping students rid their computers of illegally downloaded music before they can be litigated, but students who are found to have illegal downloads will have the opportunity to settle claims before a lawsuit is filed against them.
"Our new litigation process will allow individuals we find illegally uploading or downloading copyrighted works on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network the opportunity to settle claims before we file a 'Doe' suit against them," said Sherman. "We will continue to do all we can to encourage our fans to enjoy music legally, both on campus and more broadly by the general public."
According to Bob McGlasson, vice president for Information and Technology Services, SBU has not received a letter stating that there has been a violation on the SBU campus.
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