As you might have guessed after reading a recent e-mail, college students have become the favorite target of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

In February 2007, the organization launched its new campus anti-piracy initiative. According to the RIAA Web site, the organization, on behalf of major record companies, intends to pursue hundreds of enforcement actions against university network users each month.

On March 29, an RIAA attorney sent a notice to Allegheny College. It stated that subpoenas may be served in order to obtain the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses for students at three IP addresses on the college’s network. The notice alleges that students connected to those IP addresses have infringed upon copyrighted sound recordings by sharing music files illegally with peer-to-peer software.

Tim Hunter, director of Technology and Network Services for the college, said that the IP addresses have been traced to users in Walker/Walker Annex and Caflisch Halls. Hunter serves as the college’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) agent and acts a person of contact between RIAA and college officials.

Before subpoenas are served, outside counsel for the RIAA will issue settlement letters to the students accused of copyright infringement. The college will forward the settlement letters to those students, said Rick Holmgren, executive director of Learning, Information, and Technology Services.

Holmgren sent an e-mail to students on April 2, encouraging them to seek legal advice if they should receive a settlement letter. Relaying information contained in the RIAA notice, Holmgren’s e-mail directs students to p2plawsuits.com, a Web site that allows copyright infringers to pay settlements online.

Media reports place settlement amounts between $3,000 and $5,000.

“The industry is really serious about making examples of people,” Holmgren said. “I encourage students to think about what they’re doing with regard to peer to peer software.”

The March 29 RIAA notice is the first that has threatened specific Allegheny College network users with direct legal action.

Previous notices from the RIAA have simply informed college officials of copyright violations and prompted them to take action. These notices also identify specific network IP addresses, copyrighted files, and the peer-to-peer programs used to share them illegally.

Computing Services does not internally monitor student downloads. But when a student’s IP address appears in an RIAA notice, the help desk suspends his or her network access. The student must meet with Karen Stone, director of the Office of Educational Technology, before reconnecting to the network.

“I have them remove the program and files, and they sign a form saying they won’t share files again,” Stone said. “I haven’t been getting [repeat offenders].”

Many times, students aren’t even aware they’ve been sharing copyrighted music, she added.

Stone estimated that the college received between 20 and 25 RIAA notices this year, more than any previous year. All of these notices identified Ares Warez as the peer-to-peer application used to share music files.

Because the RIAA will take direct legal action against students identified in the March 29 notice, they will not be required to meet with Stone.

Stone stressed the importance of education in regard to the use of peer-to-peer software.

Helen McCullough, an instructional technologist for the Learning Commons with knowledge of copyright law, agrees.

“My advice is: I would stay away from downloading,” McCullough said. “If you must have peer to peer, you should be very much aware of the settings you have on it. But I would avoid it all together at this point.”

Though Allegheny College will comply with requests made by RIAA attorneys, college officials did acknowledge their use of scare tactics.

“Yes, they’re using scare tactics,” Holmgren said. “But they’re exercising their legal right. They’re looking at the potential collapse of their industry. We don’t have the right to distribute without their permission.”

At this time, the college has yet to receive the settlement letters addressed to those whose IP addresses were identified in the March 29 notice.