The Recording Industry Association of America announced Thursday it had filed suit against 17 University network users.
RIAA sent letters in early June to the University identifying certain IP addresses within the University network as having violated copyright law by illegally downloading music through file sharing networks (also called peer-to-peer networks) such as LimeWire.
RIAA asked the University to identify the users with those IP addresses and to forward the letters to the users. The letters offered a settlement to users.
The copyright theft lawsuits filed by RIAA on behalf of many recording labels were against individuals who did not settle “either because the university failed to forward a pre-litigation letter to the student or because the record industry’s settlement offer of a discounted settlement was ignored,” according to a press release.
General Counsel Randy Geller said the University did not forward the letters from the RIAA.
“It’s our policy not to send those letters along because we are neither the agent of the RIAA or any students,” Geller said. “As far as I know no students have been sued by the RIAA.”
The lawsuits have been filed against the still-unknown users in a manner that the RIAA says will allow it to use a legal discovery process to find the names of users.
A decision in a New Mexico district court earlier this year denied the RIAA’s attempt at discovering the names of users of the University of New Mexico’s network.
The RIAA states once they are identified, it will contact users and offer another settlement, which will be higher than the original offer.
Geller said the University won’t assume any fault for failing to send the letters to users.
“We don’t believe we have any liability in this at all,” he said.
Should individuals choose not to settle, the RIAA says it will continue with the lawsuit and amend paperwork to include the user’s name.
The University has a policy of shutting down access to network users discovered to have illegally downloaded materials on their computers. ResNet, which serves campus residence halls with Internet access, shut down access to as many as 24 students each week during the last school year.
ResNet notifies Network Services that there has been a violation of the University’s Acceptable Use Policy, and access is suspended until the illegal download, and the software used to obtain it, are cleared from the computer’s hard drive.
The RIAA began suing Internet users in this manner in 2003. The Electronic Frontier Foundation states the settlement offer is usually $3,000 to $5,000.
Students who are targets of the lawsuits can consult with ASUO Legal Services for free legal advice. Contact their office at (541) 346-4273.