RIAA president defends lawsuits

The president of the Recording Industry Association of America, Cary Sherman, held an online press conference with college newspaper reporters Wednesday evening, declaring lawsuits filed Tuesday against 89 college students at 21 universities served to send a message that file-sharing is illegal and has serious consequences. \nSherman said the RIAA decided to pursue college students for illegal file-sharing because they are "obviously" a big part of the problem.\n"Statistics posted by universities about the usage of their networks confirms that 60 to 70 percent and more is being consumed by file-sharing," he said.\nHe said the RIAA filed the suits to "send a message to students across the country that this activity is illegal and that engaging it can have consequences."\nAn unidentified number of IU students are included in the lawsuits.\nThe affected IU students will soon receive notification from University Information Technology Services their identities have been subpoenaed in a litigation. \nThe RIAA chose the 89 students based on the "egregiousness of their infringing activities," Sherman said. The association is not targeting specific schools, he said. \n"We're filing cases in different jurisdictions around the country in a way that maximizes the efficiency of the litigation process," he said. "We will continue to broaden the number of jurisdictions in the future."\nA total of 539 lawsuits were filed Tuesday, but only 89 were against students using university networks. He said copyright law allows courts to award damages between $750 to $150,000 per shared file to the RIAA. But Sherman said all previous file-sharing suits have been settled out of court. The average settlement has been $3,000, though he said each case is considered on an individual basis.\nSherman said the goal is not to make money for the RIAA, but to remind people sharing copyrighted music is against the law. \n"This is not a revenue-generating exercise," he said. "We're trying to send a message that the activity is illegal and can have consequences."\nSherman said the defendants were caught sharing an average of 837 files.\n"Since it's an average, obviously some were in the low hundreds and some were in the thousands," he said.\nHe said the record industry has been damaged by illegal file-sharing, forcing them to crack down on individuals.\n"In 2000, the top 10 albums sold 60 million units," said Sherman. "In 2001, the top 10 sold 40 million units. In 2002, it was down to 34 million."\nUITS spokeswoman Christine Fitzpatrick refused to comment on any of the issues Sherman presented.\nSherman said a poll conducted by Peter Hart Associates indicated 50 percent of polled college students say they are "supportive and understanding" of the RIAA lawsuits.\nSophomore Mike McSherry said he does not think the newly-filed lawsuits will help to decrease illegal file-sharing.\n"Illegal file-sharing is too big to be brought down by lawsuits like these," he said. "It's here to stay."\nFreshman Blake Muntzinger said he also disagrees with the RIAA's tactics.\n"I think that if they want people to buy more CDs, lawsuits are not the right way to go," Muntzinger said.\nDespite disapproval from these students, Sherman said the lawsuits will continue beyond those recently filed.\n"This is an ongoing program," he said. "It won't end with the settlement of these cases"