Penniless students sued for downloading music
Seven college students in Maine were sued recently the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for illegally sharing music with Bit Torrent and P2P filesharing software such as Ares and Kazaa. These students, who can barely afford to pay for their own educations, were singled out for downloading music.
There are more cases to come. Astonishingly, since February, more than 3,700 students across the US have been issued letters giving them the option to settle out of court or else face copyright infringement lawsuits. Whatever way you look at it, these students are screwed, faced with settlements of at least $3,000.
Some students have settled out of court, while other have been sued. The music industry apparently can’t afford to turn a blind eye to penniless students getting free music downloads.
Industry research reveals that at least half of all students break copyright laws. Will the music industry sue every single student? What’s most frustrating for the students who end up being sued is that they simply plucked from the crowd to be made examples of.
The RIAA needs to lighten up.
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kelley 03Dec07
thank u!! i completely agree! it is absolutely rediculous that the RIAA feels compelled to target broke, college students. I am one of them, and even the $3,000 settlement is a huge amount of money. While i now understand the seriousness of illegal downloading, i was clueless to the fact that i was even breaking the law. Downloading services like LimeWire give people a sense of false protection and just because they have the lawyers and “fine print” to cover their own butts doesnt mean college students should have to pay the price.