The days of carefree downloading are over, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) wants college students across the country to learn that lesson once and for all. The RIAA sent students throughout the country letters, typically asking for $3,000 in place of taking the lawsuit to court.

Northwestern received notification this March that 10 such letters would be sent to NU students, who the RIAA claims were illegally downloading, according to Director of Information and Systems Security Compliance, Dave Kovarik.

Northwestern will not notify these 10 students, nine of whom have been identified as undergraduates, until the actual letters are received.

“We have no idea as to when the letters will be received. We could get them today, or we could never see them,” Kovarik says. The letters only identify the students by their university IP address. Kovarik assures that NU will not hand over any names or personal information to the RIAA unless subpoenaed to do so.

“To do the right thing is to pass the letters on. It won’t simply go away,” Kovarik says.

February marked the start of the RIAA’s latest campaign to curb illegal downloading on college campuses in a new process that provides students the chance to settle claims at a discounted rate before formal litigation is filed. The RIAA plans to send out hundreds of these pre-litigation settlement letters each month, and thus far sent 1,218 to 55 different universities.

“The change has really been that (the RIAA) is going after (people) when previously we just received notification,” Kovarik says of people identified as illegal music downloaders. “Once we dealt with it, the case was closed as far as they were concerned.”

Previously the RIAA sent “notices” to colleges, identifying IP addresses on college networks that appeared to be downloading illegally. Northwestern typically receives 13 of these notices per month, and received a total of 152 from April 2006 to March 2007, according to Kovarik. Most are given to students living on- and off-campus, while a few go to staff members.

After discovering the alleged violations, NU contacts the individual to find out if copyrighted materials are in fact being downloaded illegally. Once removing all illegal materials, the case is closed as long as the illegal activity stops.

Few students become repeat offenders, according to Kovarik, who typically receives such notices from the RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Students found downloading illegally a second time are reported to Student Affairs.

Since receiving the e-mails notifying NU that 10 students would be sent pre-settlement litigation letters, the University continues to receive “notices” from the RIAA without financial consequences for other students.

Ohio University, to date, received the most pre-settlement letters topping off at 100 from just February to April. One OU student, who wishes to remain nameless since he is still in the process of settling his case, remembers being shocked upon receiving the letter.

“At first I didn’t know what to think because it’s a ton of money and I’ve never been sued before. When I talked to my parents they were just as confused as I was,” he says. “Especially my mom; she doesn’t even know what downloading music is.”

Chicago Lawyer Charles Mudd, who began representing individuals sued by the RIAA in 2003, says he does not think students will get off easy.

Mudd recommends contacting a lawyer if a student receives a pre-settlement letter, especially in cases of sharing a computer with a roommate or the user believes he or she did not download the alleged songs.

To the OU student, who will be paying $3,000 for 500 songs he no longer has on his computer, the RIAA’s tactics seem futile. “I don’t think this is the solution at all, just the (RIAA) trying to prove a point. I don’t think it’s going to stop anything because I still know people that illegally download music,” he says. “Unless it happens to you, you’re not going to understand the consequences.”

Medill sophomore Justine Reisinger is a PLAY writer. She can be reached at [email protected]