Recording Industry Sues More Students

The recording industry sued six unidentified UC Berkeley students last week for allegedly sharing copyrighted music through the file-sharing program I2Hub, leaving each vulnerable to thousands of dollars in fines.

The lawsuit, filed by Recording Industry Association of America, is the latest in the more than 11,000 lawsuits major record labels have brought against college students and others since 2003. In April, the industry filed a separate lawsuit claiming that an additional 25 UC Berkeley students and 408 students nationwide illegally used I2Hub.

I2Hub is a high-speed network used at UC Berkeley and more than 300 other campuses that allows students to share files faster than some competing networks, like Kazaa or Grokster.

The defendants are currently identified only as "John Doe" and by their computers' unique IP addresses. However, a search of the six addresses from the lawsuit filed last week indicated that two of the computers were from Unit 1, two from Clark Kerr, one from Unit 2 and one from the Foothill residence halls. The downloading from these computers allegedly occurred between late April and early May.

The first 25 students who were sued could be notified by UC Berkeley within "a matter of days," when the campus is set to receive subpoenas asking for their names, said Alan Kolling, an assistant in UC Berkeley's Department of Legal Affairs.

Kolling said the students would then have time to object before the campus is forced to give their names to the industry lawyers.

Subpoenas will likely be issued for more than 150 students across UC in the latest round of suits, at least three times more than the university has received in all previous recording industry lawsuits, according to Mary MacDonald, a UC lawyer.

"We're about to receive more than we ever had," MacDonald said.

Students could be liable for between $750 and $150,000 per song under copyright law.

But almost all of the defendants settle once they have been notified, said Jonathan Lamy, a spokesperson for the recording association.

Lamy said the lawsuits have resulted in about 2,400 settlements, which have been reported at between $3,000 to $5,000 per student.

The recording association said it will continue to sue those who pass up legal alternatives like ITunes or RealRhapsody in favor of illegally downloading music.

"There really isn't any excuse for getting music illegally," Lamy said. "Enforcement must be a necessary step to encourage people to turn to legal online music services."

Lamy said it was especially important to go after the users of I2Hub because of the speed of the service.

"You could download a song in seconds and a movie in minutes," he said, adding that the students "felt that there was no chance of being caught."

He added that the continued lawsuits are designed to both punish those who violate the law and deter others from sharing copyrighted music.

"The lawsuits have had an extraordinary educational effect," he said. "What we have seen over the past two to three years is that a fog of misunderstanding about the law has begun to clear."

Students who said they download music overwhelmingly agreed yesterday that they knew downloading music was illegal but believed that lawsuits would not affect them.

A UC Berkeley undergraduate who said he has used file-sharing software like Kazaa and Aries to download music called the industry's lawsuits "superficial and pathetic."

"That's not going to make people stop," said the student, who declined to be identified. The student said that so few students are sued that it would not deter others from downloading music.

He added that he and other students justify using programs like Kazaa by noting the wealth of mainstream recording artists and the high price of CDs.

"They feel like many of the big-name artists are getting all this money anyway," he said.

Lamy acknowledged that "there will always be clever people who will figure out how to get music illegally." But he said universities, while not legally liable, share responsibility to stop illegal music downloading, encouraging them to either prohibit file sharing, limit bandwidth or educate students about copyright law.

UC Berkeley, for its part, limits residence hall students to downloading five gigabytes per week and holds tutorial sessions when the students enter the residence halls.

But UC Berkeley spokesperson Bob Sanders said the university would not disable file sharing on the school network, a step taken by schools like the University of Florida.

"It is our policy that this is illegal and they shouldn't be doing it," Sanders said. "But it's not our policy to police the students either."

Matt, a UC Berkeley student who declined to give his last name, said that downloading songs was easiest in the residence halls because of the quick internet connection.

Now that he has moved out, Matt said he has stopped using programs like Kazaa and BitTorrent in favor of a simpler method.

"I copy CDs from my friends," he said.

Stolen Playlists

A sampling of songs shared by the

defendants of recording industry

lawsuits filed last week. The songs were traced to UC Berkeley residence halls.

APRIL 26: UNIT 1, CHENEY HALL - Shared music included "Area Codes" by Ludacris and "Xxplosive" by Dr. Dre.

MAY 5: UNIT 2, YORITADA WADA

APARTMENTS -

Shared music included "Rosa Parks" by Outkast and "Fu-Gee-La" by The Fugees.

MAY 5: CLARK KERR -

Shared music included "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi and "U Don't Have to Call" by Usher.

Source: Recording Industry Association of

America lawsuit.

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