RIAA offers settlement to 20 students

The Recording Industry Association of America sent 400 pre-litigation settlement letters to students at 13 different universities yesterday, and 20 of those letters go to Marshall students.

Jenni Engebretsen, spokesperson for the RIAA, said they do not have names to release, but only have Internet protocol addresses, to send to universities. She said these are who the letters go to, and it is up to the university to forward them to the students.

Engebretsen said the students have a fixed period of time to contact them and accept a settlement, which is a lower price than they would pay if an official lawsuit is filed. Each letter represents a lawsuit for copyright infringement that will be filed if students choose not settle beforehand.

Engebrestsen said she cannot disclose costs of any previous lawsuits, but she said the best thing for students to do if they receive a pre-litigation settlement is to take it.

"The discount provided with this settlement is substantial," she said.

Jan Fox, vice president for information technology-chief information officer, said they had not matched the names up with the IP addresses at press time, but they plan to today.

Steve Hensley, Marshall dean of student affairs, said he does not know why the RIAA chose those 20 specific students, and his only guess is they have downloaded the most files compared to other offenders.

For those students who commit the civil offense and are caught breaking the law, Fox said they estimate lawyer fees alone would be $15,000, and all other fees a least $7,500. Although these costs may be punishment enough, students who violate their policy for computer use and abuse also will have to face university ramifications for violating it.

"Repeat offenders go to student judicial affairs, and they make final decision," she said.

Hensley said the legal action taken by the RIAA against students is about one thing - money.

"What is this about? Money," he said. "It's all about the money, but we have to remember … this is a civil crime."

Hensley said although students have excuses for downloading musical illegally, they should take the repercussions seriously.

"This is what students always tell me," he said. "They like a song, but they don't like it enough to buy it. The person still downloads the song, but if they could, they wouldn't buy it anyway, so no one loses money. That's what I hear students saying. But, the record companies have a cost cited - the costs they've lost - so how can I argue with that?" he said.

Fox said the university has dealt with these issues before, but just not under national circumstances.

"The 20 students that have been notified previously will now be notified again," she said. "We warned the students once, we turned their port off until they got rid of the files and then we turned the port back on. Even though the students confirmed they had cleaned the files off their computer, (the RIAA) will still seek legal action."

Fox said she thinks the RIAA is making every attempt to ensure those who are downloading music take their threats of legal action seriously.

"Because of the 'We Are Marshall movie,' we are more recognizable, and that helps the recording industry because they are trying to get as much out there now as they can," she said. "The RIAA has gone after a series of schools with name recognition to set the example for other schools… the purpose is to put fear in everyone and to make poster children."

Hensley said it is difficult to prevent students from downloading music illegally because it is impossible to restrict their access to data files, or anything else, without taking other Internet privileges from them that they need for their education.

Hensley said if the possibly of revoking students' Internet privileges is proposed, he will lobby against it.

Fox said students need to consider legal actions of the RIAA against those who steal music, or any other shared file, seriously.

"This is national," she said. "They are going full throttle now, also paying attention to taking movies and pictures illegal. My biggest concern … is that students aren't taking this seriously. This is only 20 people now (from Marshall), and students should understand it could be them.

"This is real…It's stealing - stealing copywritten material."

Fox said the university plans to begin an education campaign, where they will post information about stealing files that are under copyright and also show videos where legal actions against the crime are fully explained.

Hensley said, "We are right in the activity of a world seeking information, and students are. We will talk to students about doing this the right way. We are going to inform students of the risks they face."

Hensley said although every student should be aware of their risks, he thinks this is a "private matter" for those who are caught and must endure the consequences.

Kristin Steele can be contacted at steele47@marshall.edu.