RIAA marks one year of college threat-letter drive

The Recording Industry of America is nearing the one-year anniversary of dispatching "prelitigation" letters to alleged pirates on college campuses nationwide.

And it's showing no signs of slowing down, celebrating--not surprisingly--by firing off a new wave of 401 legal threats this week to 12 major universities from coast to coast. This time around, it accuses individuals of stealing music through peer-to-peer services such as Ares, BitTorrent, Gnutella, Limewire, and Morpheus, the RIAA said Thursday.

Per the usual, the documents offer students the opportunity to settle out of court with the RIAA at a "reduced fee" if they respond within 20 days.

Since the campaign's launch last February, the RIAA says it has sent more than 5,400 such letters to students at more than 150 schools and reached settlements with more than 2,300 of the accused. It has filed formal lawsuits against 2,465 letter recipients because they either "disregarded" the out-of-court settlement offers or were not forwarded information from their universities in time to accept that offer.

Critics charge that the letters are just a scare tactic, and the RIAA has admitting to goofing on identifying copyright infringers in the past. But the music industry still views its prelawsuit campaign as an important deterrent. Without such action, "an emerging legal marketplace...would have struggled to gain traction," spokeswoman Cara Duckworth said in a press release.

"Unfortunately, too many students continue to ignore the law and get music from illegal services like Limewire that do not invest a penny in nurturing music or compensating the artists, labels and the thousands of behind the scenes workers bringing music to the public," Duckworth added.

The RIAA's latest threats come barely a month after the Motion Picture Association of America admitted it had erroneously concluded illegal movie downloads by college students accounted for 44 percent of the industry's domestic piracy losses. The MPAA now says students account for 15 percent of domestic losses, or about $195 million.The RIAA, for its part, has been citing statistics from the market research firm NPD that found college students made 1.3 billion illegal music downloads in 2006.

The industry has also persuaded Congress to intervene, with the House of Representatives recently approving new antipiracy obligations for universities as part of a broader higher-education authorization bill.

[protagonistic]

RE: RIAA MARKS ONE YEAR OF COLLEGE THREAT-LETTER DRIVE

What is really funny about all this is that one
day these idiots running the RIAA will be
unemployed and wondering why. I firmly believe
they really do not have a clue when it comes to
digital music downloads.

[aka_tripleB]

No kidding

With artist bailing from the RIAA, soon they'll only have old music that future college students will never want or probably never heard of because most of it is aimed at a very targeted demographic.

[oldguytoo]

guess what

illegal downloading is stealing, which is against the law.

[mikeburek]

legal system

If only the US had a legal system where someone going against the law (committing a crime) could be brought up on formal charges by an impartial law enforcement agency and then there would be a debate as to whether these charges are founded or not, and then another impartial agency/individual would then find a just sentence if the crime was committed.

[mikeburek]

reduced fee

If there is a loss, then the loss needs to have a distinct an identifiable value, which does not change on a whim. If I steal a computer from the RIAA office and I confess that I did it within 20 days, can I still keep the laptop and only pay them a reduced 10% of the value? Or would I have to return the laptop? Or if I no longer had the laptop, would they show paperwork with the value of the laptop and then I would have to pay that?

[OhKrud]

This just makes them look greedy.

These people really make me laugh. They count every download as a "lost sale". No way! Many people download music that they would never purchase simply because it is free. A friend of mine (0lder guy) used to have a room where two walls were stacked almost to the ceiling with milk crates full of albums. He has downloaded most of this music onto his computer. Should he pay again?

There is a proposal in the works here in Canada where anyone with a high-speed internet connection will be charged $5 per month whether or not you download music. Unlimited legal downloads! It is expected that the music industry will more than make up for lost sales from this revenue. Maybe the RIAA should lobby for something like that instead of suing single mothers and students. Those lawsuits only make them look greedy. In Canada, we have also been paying a small tax on each blank tape or CD for many years now. Is that the case in the US?

[kayoub]

charged $5 per month whether or not you download music.

If you don't download music, why should you be extorted to pay for it? A totally absurd proposal.

[chuck_whealton]

Re: This just makes them look greedy.

Well, they are greedy.

A perfect point you made is your friend who had two walls stacked to the wall with milk crates full of albums.

Should he buy them all over again?

Heck no, I agree with you that he should NOT. But have you seen the RIAA or anybody in the entertainment industry make any options available to him to get updated media (this goes for video also)? No, they would rather see your friend spend God knows how many thousands of dollars MORE to purchase everything on the latest media.

How many of us have been stuck with worthless (only in terms of technology) 45's and LP's, 8-tracks, cassettes, etc., because of "new technology"?

These guys are double and triple and dipping.

Where as I do NOT condone downloading music in this way, simply because it's illegal (and I will NOT do it), at the same time I consider it criminal on the part of the entertainment industry for not providing a legitimate method for people to get newer style media for a REASONABLE price as opposed to purchasing everything over again.

Yet we hear next to NOTHING about this angle.

I will no longer puchase new music for myself. I'm content with the boatloads of CDs I purchased when I was younger. If, by chance, the RIAA and their members miss my business, they have themselves to thank - it's my way of protesting their greedy policies, which MAINLY revolve around them using new technology/formats as an excuse to sell the same "intellectual property" multiple times to the same people.

Charles R. Whealton
Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com

[troppp]

Looks Like the riaa Isn't In the Music Business Anymore

It's set up now so that the RIAA can pretty much sue anybody they think has music that wasn't paid for. All this aggressive and unreasonable action has turned me off to music all-together. When I even hear music on the radio, I think of the RIAA and their ruthlessness. It turns my stomach. I don't even listen to the CD's I already own.

[elliottdp]

What about the RIAA employees' houses?

I;m sure quite of few, if not most of the employees have children living under their roof. I would imagine that those children(for whom the parents/guardians are responsible for in legal matters) have illegally obtained unpaid music files.

I wonder.......

If it's under the parents roof/household, aren't they responsible for the music being illegally downloaded/obtained??

Too bad each of those houses can't be examined closely without probable cause. I'm sure the employees wouldn't be employees anymore. heh

[megabob6666]

A Comparison

This is like the oil companies suing consumers for using alternative fuels. They fail to accept that things have changed and that they need to roll with those changes. The old guard must fall and stop blocking progress just because they either don't profit from it or profit less because of it. As we move ahead, those who previously profited from the old ways must either adapt or go the way of the dinosaur. Let some of those multi-million dollar record company CEO's find a way to salvage whatever they can and earn their keep for a change, but make sure they understand that they may be shorted a million or two in their yearly bonuses because they can't stand in the way of change and progress.

[SethBr]

Where's the money?

So, of all the money the RIAA has extorted from people for filesharing, how much has been paid to the artists (you know, the people the RIAA claims it's protecting)?

<fx>crickets chirping</fx>