The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Jackie Poinier

When the Recording Industry Association of America sent letters to 37 Syracuse University students last month offering them out-of-court settlements for alleged copyright infringement, it was part of the first wave in a new initiative by the RIAA to try to end the illegal online file-trafficking problem.

The RIAA's initiative is just a small part of the association's efforts with colleges and universities to discourage illegal downloading on college campuses.

"This is an effort that has been going on for a number of years, working in a very collaborative manner," said Jenni Engebretsen, spokesperson for the RIAA. "We do consider our work with the university community to be a partnership, and we are engaged in a number of different efforts. It takes a multi-faceted approach to address illegal file-trafficking on college campuses."

Since the initial wave of 400 letters to universities on Feb. 28, the RIAA sent a second wave of 405 letters on March 21 to 23 universities nationwide. The letters are pre-litigation settlement opportunities for students, allowing them to settle out of court for $3,000 without any mark on their personal record before facing a lawsuit from the RIAA, Engebretsen said.

The RIAA's wave of letters, however, seems to have done little for its reputation as a playground bully picking on American college students.

Jon Weinstein, one of the 37 SU students targeted by the RIAA, said he thought the RIAA's recent actions toward students were an example of a corporation being corrupt.

"I think they should have given some kind of notice," said Weinstein, an undecided freshman in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. "It just really f*cked my life up, like bad. I had to pay for this. My parents aren't paying for it."

Weinstein is just one of thousands of college students directly affected by the RIAA's efforts during the past few years. The association has filed thousands of lawsuits, sent countless more warnings and plans to continue to do so, hoping to end what it views as a "serious problem" before it becomes unstoppable.



A history of action

The RIAA filed its first lawsuits against individuals for copyright infringement in September 2003.

The association's first lawsuits against college students followed six months later. Between March 2004 and last month's wave of letters, the RIAA filed just more than 1,000 lawsuits against students, Engebretsen said, adding the association's recent actions have the potential to be as effective as its efforts during the past three years in a much smaller amount of time.

Continued...

Page 1 of 6 next >

Article Tools