Ricky Welshiemer, Assistant News Editor
Richard_Welshiemer@csumb.edu
Feb. 28, 2008
CSU Monterey Bay (CSUMB) students might be surprised to receive lawsuit letters from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for illegally downloading music. According to RIAA, 18 universities nationwide were sent pre-litigation settlement letters. Among those universities was CSUMB, which received 25 letters. The letters were sent by Holme Roberts & Owen Attorneys at Law (HRO) to CSUMB and were to be distributed to the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses that were downloading the music illegally. All of the letters are addressed to IP addresses and as of right now HRO does not know any of the names that are connected to them. According to the settlement letter, recipients of the letter will have 20 days to settle before the case is taken to a Federal Court. The letters offer the option to settle the claims for a significantly reduced amount compared to what they will ask for if the suit is filed. If the students choose not to do anything or decide to go to court, HRO will subpoena for their names and information. The letter then states two things that the recipients of the letter should take into consideration before deciding what action to take. The first consideration is to inform them that if the case is taken to court for each illegal song that had been downloaded the minimum fine they will be charged is $750. The second is to obtain and preserve the evidence that is being charged against them. A CSUMB student who would like to remain anonymous due to the fact that his case is still pending, has been accused of illegally downloading and sharing 1,348 songs. According to the first consideration in the letter, if he were to go to court and lose, he would be fined roughly $1 million. However, he has declared that he has never illegally downloaded music and is being wrongfully accused. Students living in the East Campus housing are required to register with CSUMB ResNet (OtterNet), which is CSUMB’s Internet network. The accused student installed a wireless network in his residence so he and his roommates could use their laptops freely throughout the apartment. After installing the wireless network in his apartment, he allowed anybody in a certain range to have access to his Internet. The student claims that a resident nearby had been connecting to his wireless network and that he or she had been downloading the music illegally. The anonymous CSUMB student contacted HRO to see what the reduced settlement would be and was told he would owe $3,000 before the 20 days were up. He wrote a letter to them and has contacted Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Subpoena Defense, lawyers who claim to defend Internet users, to help him fight his case. The student said he is being wrongfully accused of something he has not done and feels that no matter what he chooses to do he will be losing money over something that he was not a part of. The main goal of RIAA is to protect the ability of the recording industry and allow legal online services to prosper. “If you violate the law and steal from record companies, musicians, songwriters and everyone else involved in making music, you can be held accountable. With so many great legal music options available, there is really no excuse for music theft. Fans have a choice: pay a little now or a lot more later,” said RIAA. For more information on the lawsuits and/or on Recording Industry Association of America’s fight against piracy visit their website at www.riaa.com.
