Students targeted for downloading music
Charged $750 per song, students from over 60 different universities and colleges across the United States are being sued by The Recording Industry Association of America for illegally downloading and sharing music through their PC's.
Prestigious universities, such as New York, Princeton, California-Berkeley and George Washington State, have been targeted over the past four years, as millions of students continue to log on and illegally obtain music from all of their favourite artists.
The RIAA has recently hired a staff of 20 technologists to track the individuals who are sharing music illegally with others using downloading software, such as Bear Share and Kazaa, and nailing them with fines that can reach up to $150,000 per song, with an average settlement of $3,600.
Although students are well aware of the actions being taken to prevent the stealing of music, it continues to be the most common source of music access among students and teachers and seems to be on the rise.
According to the RIAA “Big Campaign” they drew statistics over the recent years in order to track popularity. The number of peer-to-peer sharing one month before the lawsuits began was an estimated 3.85 million in September 2003 and jumped to jaw-dropping 8.63 million in April of 2005.
Many faculty as well as students who have already encountered the RIAA, still do not believe this will change the attitudes of their peers.
Jenni Engebrestsen, a spokes woman for the RIAA said over 500 colleges and universities in America have paid settlements to avoid being sued.
The companies who are tracking-down these students do not keep the settlement payments, Instead, the settlement payments are being reinvested into the schooling system in order to provide the students with a way to legally download and gain access to music over the Internet.
Schools are now supplying students with a means to download and create their own CD's by collaborating with Napster and iTunes services at a small cost. Students are able to have access to certain downloading software, yet are limited to the songs and albums that are being shared across the country to prevent using unlicensed programs.
The lawsuits that are taking action against colleges and universities does not show any signs of slowing down and in fact, the industry plans to continue cracking down on illegal music sharing and downloading in order to show that there are going to be consequences for illegal actions.
“We will continue to do our part to let students know of the great legal ways to enjoy music as well as the consequences of breaking the law,” said Mitch Bainwol, Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association. “The more that schools do to defend the integrity of their computer networks and protect against theft, the less likely that their students will be caught for illegal downloading. That's a win-win-win for everyone.”
Prestigious universities, such as New York, Princeton, California-Berkeley and George Washington State, have been targeted over the past four years, as millions of students continue to log on and illegally obtain music from all of their favourite artists.
The RIAA has recently hired a staff of 20 technologists to track the individuals who are sharing music illegally with others using downloading software, such as Bear Share and Kazaa, and nailing them with fines that can reach up to $150,000 per song, with an average settlement of $3,600.
Although students are well aware of the actions being taken to prevent the stealing of music, it continues to be the most common source of music access among students and teachers and seems to be on the rise.
According to the RIAA “Big Campaign” they drew statistics over the recent years in order to track popularity. The number of peer-to-peer sharing one month before the lawsuits began was an estimated 3.85 million in September 2003 and jumped to jaw-dropping 8.63 million in April of 2005.
Many faculty as well as students who have already encountered the RIAA, still do not believe this will change the attitudes of their peers.
Jenni Engebrestsen, a spokes woman for the RIAA said over 500 colleges and universities in America have paid settlements to avoid being sued.
The companies who are tracking-down these students do not keep the settlement payments, Instead, the settlement payments are being reinvested into the schooling system in order to provide the students with a way to legally download and gain access to music over the Internet.
Schools are now supplying students with a means to download and create their own CD's by collaborating with Napster and iTunes services at a small cost. Students are able to have access to certain downloading software, yet are limited to the songs and albums that are being shared across the country to prevent using unlicensed programs.
The lawsuits that are taking action against colleges and universities does not show any signs of slowing down and in fact, the industry plans to continue cracking down on illegal music sharing and downloading in order to show that there are going to be consequences for illegal actions.
“We will continue to do our part to let students know of the great legal ways to enjoy music as well as the consequences of breaking the law,” said Mitch Bainwol, Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association. “The more that schools do to defend the integrity of their computer networks and protect against theft, the less likely that their students will be caught for illegal downloading. That's a win-win-win for everyone.”
