The recording industry continued its crackdown on illegal downloading Wednesday by threatening to sue what it says are its worst offenders—college students.
The Recording Industry Association of America sent out 400 pre-litigation letters to 13 universities across the nation this week.
""They're trying to make an example of some schools to kind of take an intermediate step to hopefully get students' attention,"" said Brian Rust, communications manager for UW-Madison's Division of Information Technology.
Though UW-Madison ranked No. 10 on the RIAA list for the most amount of illegal downloads at college campuses this school year, none of its students were on the latest target list.
Thursday afternoon RIAA hosted a chat with college newspapers to detail new initiatives and address concerns of college students, particularly those who received letters from the RIAA.
In the chat forum, RIAA administrators said the reason for the group's recent crackdown on illegal downloading is to remind students of the dangers of getting caught.
""By increasing the number of lawsuits, we're letting them know that the risk of getting caught is greater,"" RIAA administrator Cary Sherman said in the chat room. ""That's why we're bringing more lawsuits on a single college campus.""
The RIAA also stressed that the lawsuits are directed at students, not universities.
""The actions are not against the universities, but we hope and expect that the universities will pass along the letters to students and help us educate students on the value of intellectual property,"" said Steven Marks, another RIAA chat administrator.
The RIAA warns that unlike the lawsuits it filed three years ago, there is not a minimum amount of files a user must have before it will prosecute. The association also emphasized pre-litigation letters need to be taken seriously.
""We never send a letter if we don't intend to sue,"" Sherman said. ""The advantage to settling is that you can do it for less.""
The pre-litigation letters give students the opportunity to settle outside of court and possibly pay less due to a flat settlement rate.
Rust said DoIT does not have insight as to why RIAA targets specific universities but said college students, not universities, are the real targets.
""They are targeting college students,"" Rust said. ""They're kind of an easy mark.""
Sherman gave warning to all UW students who download.
""You're among music's biggest fans—and you used to be our biggest buyers,"" Sherman said in the chat. ""We want you to enjoy our music—but we'd like you to do it legally.""
