Paying for Piracy

On February 28, the Recording Industry Association of America announced a new policy to crack down on illegal music downloading on college campuses. The association sent 400 letters to 13 universities and asked that the universities forward the letters to the individual users. The letters will offer the recipients an opportunity to pay a discounted settlement amount in lieu of a potentially costly lawsuit.

And the RIAA has a warning to college students here in the Valley, and nationwide - this is only the beginning of a long-term effort to eradicate illegal downloading the only way that seems to be effective: by hitting you in the wallet.



Read more on College Times

Recording industry takes action against piracy on campus

By David Cabanero

The Recording Industry Association of America launched a new initiative Wednesday intensifying the crackdown on music theft on college campuses nationwide.

UT was listed in the association's top 25 university offenders in illegal file transfers.

The association, which represents 90 percent of U.S. recording industries, sent 400 pre-litigation settlement letters to 13 different universities Wednesday. Individual students were contacted with pre-trial negotiations, Sherman said.

The letters allow the infringer the opportunity to negotiate with the association before the lawsuit is filed for public record. RIAA sent 33 pre-litigation letters to UT on Wednesday, which they are requesting the University to forward to the students.


Read more on The Daily Texan

Forget party schools: The RIAA lists the top piracy schools in the US

Ohio University, Purdue University, and the University of Nebraska have made it to the top of a list, but it may not be something the universities want to brag about. The RIAA recently named the top 25 music-pirating schools in the country, an act that involved sending over 14,500 copyright infringement notices (so far) during the 2006-2007 school year. This was nearly triple the number of notices sent during the 2005-2006 school year, according to the RIAA. The group says, however, that they are taking advantage of new software tools to improve the tracking of illegal file sharing, which may be part of the reason why the numbers have skyrocketed.


Read more on arstechnica.com