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RIAA files civil suits against three NIU students
Last updated on 00/00/0000 at 12:00 a.m.
Civil lawsuits have been filed against three NIU students by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The lawsuits, filed Sept. 4 and Oct. 2 on behalf of the record companies that constitute the RIAA, accused the students of copyright infringement for illegally downloading or uploading music on peer-to-peer file sharing networks, according to documents acquired from the RIAA.
All three students were found to have used Limewire, a file-sharing network, by RIAA’s online investigation team. Each student was found to have more than 300 downloaded files.
The suits were filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois-Eastern Division, which is located at the Everett McKinley Dirksen Building in Chicago.
Since the lawsuits are civil, not criminal, the record companies are seeking only monetary damages and reliefs, according to the documents. Record companies involved in the suits include Interscope Records, Sony-BMG Music Entertainment, Elektra Entertainment Group and Capitol Records.
Last spring, 78 NIU students received pre-litigation letters from RIAA stating they were identified illegally participating in online file sharing by their IP address. Twentyeight letters were distributed Feb. 28 and another 50 were sent May 2. The letters were initially given to the university to distribute to the students matching the IP addresses.
After receiving the letters, students were allotted 20 days to settle out-of-court with RIAA for a discounted rate. If no settlement was reached, the record companies issued a nameless lawsuit and subpoena to the university for the individual’s information connected with the IP address.
Students were given another opportunity to settle with the record companies before facing a public lawsuit and in-court settlements. In March, the Northern Star reported that out-of-court settlements could reach anywhere between $3000 and $5000, with in-court settlements exceeding $5000.
RIAA president Cary Sherman told the Northern Star March 2 that illegal downloading is a major problem at universities.
“Unfortunately, the piracy problem on campuses remains extensive and unacceptable and compromises the music industry’s ability to invest in new music,” Sherman said. “We do not take this step lightly and wish it were not necessary.”
According to RIAA, 26,000 people have faced legal action since 2003, and almost all have ended with a settlement being reached.
» Next Campus Article: More students eating fresh since Subway moved in
Does anyone hear EXTORTION? Students have a chance in trial if they challenge the RIAA's findings. They most likely used a company, like BayTSP, Media Sentry, or Media Defender that obtained the ip address. These companies need to realize that an IP address is not concrete evidence. Students, if they choose to challenge them, you can start by questioning their methods on how they were able to conclude it was in fact that student that was engaged in infringement/distribution. By settling, they don't have to produce any shred of evidence to back up their claim. If you challenge them, invasion of privacy and entrapment is an issue. If it goes to trial, the RIAA must prove exact times and dates when infringement/distribution took place. and what files were involved. This is totally unacceptable the RIAA would stoop to this level in suing students in their failing business models. Suing your customers is really low. This is just another way to fatten up their wallets without selling a product.
The rules are the rules.
