Illegal File Sharing Can Be Harmful To Your Financial Health

With the first court test of the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) illegal file sharing suits behind us, it is now clear that losing a copyright infringement suit can be very costly. The RIAA recently won a case against a Minnesota woman for sharing 24 copyrighted songs – and the court assessed a $222,000 fine against the defendant.

Similar courtroom dramas could also be the final act in a series of legal actions taken by the RIAA against individuals here at the University of Maryland and other universities around the country.

The litigation process begins with the RIAA participating in file sharing networks, like LimeWire and Ares where illegal file sharing is rampant, and recording the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of computers offering copyrighted works for downloading. The RIAA then notes the date, time, and the copyrighted works being offered; looks up which institution holds the IP address; and sends a letter to that institution that a potential copyright violation has been observed. Since the RIAA does not know the name of the person using the computer at that IP address, it sends the letter to the institution of record that owns the IP address.

When we receive such letters at the University of Maryland, we notify the appropriate university network user of the letter’s arrival and ask that he or she pick it up. We do not tell the RIAA the network user’s name or even whether or not the letter has been delivered. Generally, these RIAA letters contain an offer to let the addressee settle the copyright claim for around $3,000 by logging onto an electronic commerce Web site and transferring the requested money.

If the addressee does not accept this settlement offer, the RIAA sends a subpoena to the university requesting the network user’s name. The University of Maryland will provide the person’s name to the RIAA if the subpoena is legally constituted and will notify the affected person. Next, the RIAA sends a settlement letter directly to the network user. This letter usually offers to settle the claim for around $7,000. If the claim is not settled, the RIAA then sues the person in court, which could result in a possible fine in the hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, as the Minnesota woman found out.

At press time, the RIAA has sent 38 pre-litigation letters to University of Maryland community members. Some have settled out of court for $3,000-4,000. The university has received subpoenas requesting additional information on eight individuals that did not settle. If these individuals do not accept the RIAA’s follow-up settlement offers, lawsuits could follow.

While the university aims to protect both its community members and its network resources, it can not offer legal protection to network users for illegal behavior.

New university actions – including the recently instituted blocks on Ares and LimeWire file sharing networks – were addressed in an open letter to the community; see www.oit.umd.edu/News/Archive/2007/openletter1007.html for details.

There are dozens of legal music and movie subscription services with extensive music and video collections available at reasonable prices. Ruckus even offers Maryland-specific special features for the benefit and convenience of the university community.

Please don’t be a statistic. Don’t illegally download or share copyrighted works. It is not worth the price you could have to pay.