p2pnet - rss feed: More Ohio University students sued
p2pnet.net news:- It would seem having friends in low places hasn’t done Ohio University a lot of good.
Claiming students were using school networks to share music with each other, Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG’s RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) successfully intimidated university officers into banning file sharing.
Not that the action stopped anything. Music lovers simply shifted their activities to an intranet being run from the East Green section.
Ohio U officials hoped the ban will divert attention away from the university, which had until then held the record of most-sued among schools across America which had heard from the RIAA. And indeed, that’s the way it looked. Because when the most recent round of sue ‘em all letters arrived at university offices, Ohio was significantly absent, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by school administrators. And cio Bruce Bible is still calling the move a success - from the school’s perspective.
But, 14 more Ohio University network users are facing Big 4 lawsuits, says the university newspaper, The Post.
“After the first round of recording industry letters threatening legal action arrived at the university in March, ten students decided not to settle and were named in a John Doe lawsuit filed April 13,” says the story, going on:
The recording industry began its crackdown on students using college networks to share music in February, when it announced it had sent more copyright complaint notices to OU than any other college in the country. A week later, it sent out another news release saying 50 OU students would face copyright infringement lawsuits unless they settled. In April, 50 more OU students were left to consider a similar decision. To date, no other school has received more pre-litigation settlement letters than OU.
Students asked to settle must commit to a $3,000 payment within 20 days of the letter’s mailing. Receipt of the letters takes additional time because the university must match the Internet provider address named in the letter to a network user using network activity logs.
Lawsuits notwithstanding, Bible said p2p traffic is “well contained”.
“I would be surprised if we received any or a significant number (of pre-litigation letters) after the initial blocking was instituted,” the story in The Post has him stating. But he “couldn’t say for sure what the recording industry would do”.
Meanwhile, the RIAA has asked the university to match IP addresses with the names of the students who use them,” so that it can identify and sue 14 students who failed to enter into the settlement offered. The university said it has sent notices of the RIAA action to the students”.
Also See:
intimidated university officers - Ohio University caves in to RIAA, April 26, 2007
shifted their activities - DC ++ stymies RIAA at Ohio U, May 8, 2007
The Post - RIAA lawsuits pile up at OU, total users sued reaches 25, May 18, 2007
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