Recording industry sues computer users

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Mar 24, 2004 | by Alex Veiga, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- The recording industry sued 532 people Tuesday, including scores of individuals using computer networks at 21 universities, claiming they were illegally sharing digital music files over the Internet.

This latest wave of copyright lawsuits brought by the Recording Industry Association of America on behalf of recording companies marks the first time the trade group has targeted computer users swapping music files over university networks.

The RIAA filed the "John Doe" complaints against 89 individuals using networks at universities in Arizona, California, Virginia, New York, Indiana, Maryland, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. Lawsuits against 443 people using commercial Internet access providers were also filed in California, Colorado, Missouri, Texas and Virginia. The recording group did not name which Internet access providers the defendants were using. In all, 27 lawsuits were filed, an RIAA spokesman said.

In "John Doe" lawsuits, the recording industry must work through the courts to find out the identities of the defendants, which at the outset are only identified by the numeric Internet protocol addresses assigned to computers online.

The defendants, which the trade group claims offered "substantial amounts" of music files, face potential civil penalties or settlements that could cost them thousands of dollars. Settlements in previous cases have averaged$3,000 each.

"We are sending a clear message that downloading or 'sharing' music from a peer-to-peer network without authorization is illegal, it can have consequences and it undermines the creative future of music itself," RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a statement.

The recording industry blames lagging music sales in recent years on the rise of online music piracy. File-sharing has become a popular pastime on college campuses, and pressure is intensifying on schools to be vigilant to copyright infringement occurring over their computer networks.

Last year, Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology fought recording industry subpoenas seeking the identities of four students who were suspected of illegal file-sharing over a commercial online service.

The court ultimately sided with the universities, on the grounds that the subpoenas, which were issued in Washington, could not be served in Massachusetts.

Experts say some universities might decide to test the legality of the recording industry subpoenas this time. But the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act only requires universities to give notice to their students before releasing their information, it doesn't prohibit them from doing so, said Evan Cox, a copyright attorney in San Francisco.

John Chandler, a spokesman for California State University, Northridge, one of the schools where the RIAA said it discovered computer users engaging in online piracy, said the university hasn't been asked for any names.

Including Tuesday's filings, the recording industry has sued 1,977 people since launching its legal assault against online music piracy last fall.

The recording group has said that once it discovers a defendant's identity, it would contact them and offer them the chance to settle out of court before proceeding with the case.