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U. Texas: RIAA's letters may turn into court dates
(U-Wire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
UWIRE-07/11/2008-U. Texas: RIAA's letters may turn into court dates (C)
2008 Daily Texan via UWIRE
By Sean Beherec, Daily Texan (U. Texas)
AUSTIN, Texas -- Illegal downloading on campuses could be heard in
criminal courts after a year of letters sent to students around the
nation threatening lawsuits in civil courts.
University of Texas students and legal representatives saw an increase
in pre-litigation settlement letters from the Recording Industry
Association of America toward the end of last semester when awareness
programs regarding music piracy were on the rise, said Raymond
Schiflett, UT's director of Student Legal Services.
"That was somewhat frustrating because we were being very aggressive
about getting outreach programs out and developing things to try to
stem the tide," Schiflett said. "It would not shock me to see the RIAA
decide to start pursuing some students, some select targets, from a
criminal perspective."
Schiflett said discussions with the association's attorneys have led
him to believe that the University is highly targeted by the RIAA
because of the large student population, which could cause students
from smaller schools to stop illegal downloading.
"If you capture UT students doing illegal activities, it makes a bigger
splash," he said. "I understand their logic. I don't like it, but I
understand it."
RIAA spokeswoman Liz Kennedy said the RIAA aims to educate students
against illegal file-sharing, but she said the activity cannot be
stopped completely and lawsuits cannot be filed against every person
downloading.
"An increase in letters is not necessarily an indication of more
file-sharing going on," Kennedy said. "This is a campaign meant to
encourage individuals to go legal."
Schiflett said illegal downloading could end up costing the downloader
much more money than the downloads are worth. The copyright
infringement penalty for one song is $750, so the RIAA settlement for
$3,000 is oftentimes more affordable than if the issue were taken to
court, which could cost thousands of dollars more for expert testimony,
he said.
"The RIAA is notably harsh as far as depreciations," Schiflett said.
"They don't really care that you don't have any money. They don't care
if you're on food stamps."
UT's Information Security officer Cam Beasley said it is not the
University's policy to regularly watch what students access while using
the University's Internet and that it is the students' responsibility
to use the Internet lawfully.
"No specific monitoring for such activity is conducted by the
University, but we do respond to lawful inquiries regarding alleged
illegal downloading when needed," Beasley said in an e-mail.
Schiflett said information regarding the University's stance on illegal
downloading and computer usage is presented at orientation and
throughout the year. He said a new campaign was established for
orientation this summer to make students aware of the risks involved
and a letter will be sent to students in the fall from Juan Gonzalez,
vice president for student affairs.
"It's illegal; it's a violation of federal law," Schiflett said. "You
really shouldn't be doing it."
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((Distributed on bahalf of U-Wire via M2 Communications Ltd -
http://www.m2.com))
((U-Wire - http://www.uwire.com))
Copyright ? 2008 U-Wire
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