The Recording Industry Association of America filed another
round of lawsuits against file sharers Monday. The 532 file sharers
the RIAA filed suits against include 89 college students at 21
universities who were transferring audio and video files on
peer-to-peer services using university networks for free.

<p>Universities from across the nation were targeted by
the lawsuit, including Georgetown University, Stanford University,
Marquette University and two Big Ten schools, Indiana University
and Michigan University.

<p>Because a federal judge recently ruled the RIAA cannot
sue groups of file sharers but must sue each downloader
individually, the RIAA continues to sue using a “John Doe”
litigation process to sue downloaders whose names are unknown.

<p>The RIAA is in the process of appealing the court’s
decision.

<p>RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a release that the
lawsuits are educational to downloaders.

<p>”Lawsuits are an important part of the larger strategy
to educate file sharers about the law, protect the rights of
copyright owners and encourage music fans to turn to these
legitimate services,” Sherman said. “It’s important for everyone to
understand that no one is immune from the consequences of illegally
‘sharing’ music files on P2P networks.”

<p>According to the release, courts have granted the
RIAA’s preliminary request to issue subpoenas in lawsuits filed in
January against downloaders. The subpoenas would identify file
sharers through their Internet service providers’ addresses, but
record companies plan to send downloaders letters offering to
settle out of court. If file sharers refuse to settle, the
companies will sue them.

<p>Sherman said file sharers can choose to download music
from an array of legal music services on the Internet instead of
from illegal peer-to-peer networks.

<p>As an alternative to Kazaa or Grokster peer-to-peer
file-sharing services, downloaders can purchase music services for
access to high-quality music and video files.

<p>Marquette University sophomore Heather Miller purchased
the downloading software Rhapsody after seeing a large banner
identifying the dangers of illegal file sharing at one of the
campuses’ dining halls.

<p>”There was this big poster that said, ‘File sharing is
like swimming with the sharks,'” Miller said. “And of course you
don’t want to swim with the sharks because they bite.”

<p>Rhapsody, distributed by Best Buy, enables the buyer to
download any song on any compact disc distributed by the store and
can be purchased for about $14.

<p>”The real kicker is the downloading,” Miller said.
“It’s really fast, but every song you burn [to a compact disc] is
$0.79.”

<p>Miller said she purchased it after a friend recommended
the service.

<p>Miller, who lives in Schroeder Hall, said while there
were no posters in her residence hall, several posters were
displayed throughout residence halls and the rest of the Marquette
campus.

<p>But even after seeing the posters, Miller initially
continued to download music until she heard stories from friends
about students who were fined and then purchased Rhapsody. “I think
people that are generally more paranoid are going to stop
downloading (because of the posters),” Miller said. “But then there
are the schmucks that will still download until [a lawsuit] happens
to them.”

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