Shortly after a federal judge ordered the University of Wisconsin to hand over the names of 53 UW System students targeted as habitual illegal music downloaders, the Recording Industry Association of America cracked down on more campuses Wednesday.
The RIAA sent pre-litigation letters to 13 university campuses—402 individual letters in all.
This is the fourth time the RIAA has targeted illegal music downloading on university campuses, directing its letters describing impending legal action at various large universities, including Duke University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, Tufts University, the University of Southern California, the University of Iowa, the University of Georgia and the University of Texas Systems.
""With record companies embracing digital distribution models of every kind, there is more legal music available now than ever before,"" said Steven Marks, RIAA's executive vice president and general counsel, in a statement. ""For students, many of these high-quality music options are available at deeply discounted rates—or even free. Yet, for one reason or another, theft on college campuses continues at disproportionately high levels. We will continue to educate fans of all ages, but deterrence is equally important. Students must understand that there are consequences for their illegal actions.""
—Erica Pelzek
