Music industry turns up the heat on illegal downloading at colleges

WASHINGTON -- College students who faced lawsuits for illegally sharing large music collections over campus computer networks increasingly risk being unplugged from the Internet or even suspended over lesser complaints by the recording industry.

In a nationwide crackdown, the music industry is sending thousands more copyright complaints to universities this school year than last. In some cases, students are targeted for allegedly sharing a single mp3 file online.

A few schools -- Ohio University and Purdue University are at the top of the list -- already have received more than 1,000 complaints accusing individual students since last fall. For students who are caught, punishments can vary from e-mail warnings to semester-long suspensions from classes. Ohio University said students caught twice sharing music online would face the same disciplinary sanctions as classmates accused of violence or cheating: suspension, probation or an assignment to write a homework paper on the subject. Ohio said no student ever has been caught twice.

The trade group for the largest music labels, the Recording Industry Association of America, identified at the request of The Associated Press the 25 universities to which it has sent the most copyright complaints so far this school year.

The group, which has long pressured schools to act more aggressively, said software tools are improving to trace illegal file-sharing on campuses. "We are taking advantage of that technology to make universities aware of the problem on their campuses," RIAA President Cary Sherman said. "They need to be sending a message to their students about how to live a lawful life."

"They're trying to make a statement," said Randall Hall, who polices computers at Michigan State University, seventh on the list with 753 complaints. Michigan State received 432 such complaints in December alone, when students attended classes for only half the month.

Hall meets personally with students caught twice and forces them to watch an eight-minute anti-piracy DVD produced by the RIAA. A third-time offender can be suspended for a semester.

Each complaint accuses a student of sharing at least one song over the campus network. Egregious offenders, who make available hundreds or thousands of songs to other students online, have been targeted by the RIAA in expensive civil lawsuits.

The music group said each university should set its own penalties for stealing songs.

Under federal law, universities that receive complaints about students illegally distributing copyrighted songs generally must act to stop repeat offenders or else the schools can be sued. The entertainment industry typically can identify a student only by his or her numerical Internet address and must rely on the school to correlate that information with its own records to trace a person's identity.

Some schools aggressively warn students after they receive complaints. Others don't. Purdue, which has received 1,068 complaints so far this year but only 37 in 2006, said it rarely notifies students accused by the RIAA because it's too much trouble to find alleged offenders.

University of Washington students caught poaching free music receive a warning the first time the school gets wind of a copyright violation, usually through a notification by the RIAA. The second time the school is notified, the UW will cut off network access until the student stops and tells the school he or she has done so. Oren Sreebny, UW's director of emerging technology, said it usually takes just one warning to set a student straight. If it goes past two notifications, then the student has to go through disciplinary procedures.

At Seattle University, file-sharing without permission is not only illegal but a violation of the school's Intellectual Property Policies. Students caught downloading music they didn't buy are subject to disciplinary action, beginning with a hearing. Sanctions may include written warnings, loss of computer privileges, probation, suspension and even dismissal.

Seattle U chief information officer Melissa Mullinax also said the school has a proprietary technical solution designed to prevent peer-to-peer file-sharing. If a student gets past that, then the student judicial process would commence.

THE TOP 25

A look at the number of copyright complaints sent to colleges by the recording industry last school year and so far this school year. Below are the 25 schools that have received the most complaints, with complaints from 2005-06 listed first, and 2006-07 listed second.

1. Ohio University: 232; 1,287

2. Purdue University: 37; 1,068

3. University of Nebraska-Lincoln: 421; 1,002

4. University of Tennessee-Knoxville: 153; 959

5. University of South Carolina: 204; 914

6. University of Massachusetts at Amherst: 365; 897

7. Michigan State University: 418; 753

8. Howard University: 604; 572

9. North Carolina State University: 242; 550

10. University of Wisconsin-Madison: 125; 513

11. University of South Florida: 276; 490

12. Syracuse University: 181; 488