Suits accuse 532 of music piracy
9:46 PM 3/23/04
Alex Veiga AP business writer

LOS ANGELES - The recording industry sued 532 people Tuesday, including scores of individuals using computer networks at 21 universities, claiming they were illegally sharing digital music files over the Internet. <

This latest wave of copyright lawsuits brought by the Recording Industry Association of America on behalf of recording companies marks the first time the trade group has targeted computer users swapping music files over university networks. <

The RIAA filed the "John Doe" complaints against 89 individuals using networks at universities in Arizona, California, Virginia, New York, Indiana, Maryland, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. <

At UW-Madison, information security manager Kim Milford said the university had not been notified on Tuesday about the complaints. But she said she could well find something waiting on her desk from RIAA this morning. <

"They've been after us since August," Milford said. "We get complaints from them every day, and we respond to them. But they weren't John Doe suits before. It was just a case of cease-and-desist." <

Milford said she would involve the university's senior legal staff if complaints have been filed against UW-Madison or any of the other campuses in the University of Wisconsin System, which use the same network. Student privacy concerns would have to be reviewed, she said, and students also would be counseled about the illegality of downloading songs. <

"There are new students we have to bring in and educate about how to respect copyrights," she said. <

Milford said UW-Madison also has tried to make it less convenient to download songs, by putting such actions on a lower priority on the network in the residence halls. <

"So getting a song would take a lot longer," Milford said, at least during the work day. <

Brian Rust, spokesman for UW-Madison's Division of Information Technology, said it was possible that RIAA complaints also were filed against students at private colleges. Both public and private institutions in Wisconsin use the same network, known as WiscNet, Rust said, and DoIt is contracted to maintain it. <

Lawsuits against 443 people using commercial Internet access providers were also filed in California, Colorado, Missouri, Texas and Virginia. The recording group did not name which Internet access providers the defendants were using. In all, 27 lawsuits were filed, an RIAA spokesman said. <

In "John Doe" lawsuits, the recording industry must work through the courts to find out the identities of the defendants, which at the outset are only identified by the numeric Internet protocol addresses assigned to computers online. <

The defendants, which the trade group claims offered "substantial amounts" of music files, face potential civil penalties or settlements that could cost them thousands of dollars. Settlements in previous cases have averaged $3,000 each. <

"We are sending a clear message that downloading or 'sharing' music from a peer-to-peer network without authorization is illegal, it can have consequences and it undermines the creative future of music itself," RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a press release. <

The recording industry blames lagging music sales in recent years on the rise of online music piracy. File-sharing has become a popular pastime on college campuses, and pressure is intensifying on schools to be vigilant to copyright infringement occurring over their computer networks. <

Including Tuesday's filings, the recording industry has sued 1,977 people since launching its legal assault against online music piracy last fall. The recording group has said that once it discovers a defendant's identity, it would contact them and offer them the chance to settle out of court before proceeding with the case. <

To date, roughly 400 defendants have reached out-of-court settlements, an RIAA spokesman said. <

Wisconsin State Journal reporter Karen Rivedal contributed to this story. <