After years of keeping their fingers crossed to stay out of the music industry's war on piracy, students downloading illegally just might be able to breathe easier.
The Recording Industry Association of America has announced that it will no longer launch the mass lawsuits pursued against copyright infringers since 2003, in favor of a new strategy that intends to coordinate closely with Internet Service Providers to curb illegal downloading.
The RIAA's decision comes on the heels of a policy adopted by the Office of Student Affairs in mid-November that required agencies like the RIAA to provide evidence of illegal file-sharing before it forwards pre-litigation letters to students.
"It doesn't dramatically change anything because we had already made our own decision to stop passing on the settlement letters," said Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs. "Our role was really going to be limited exclusively to giving students a head's up."
Over the past five years, the RIAA has opened litigation against 35,000 people. The agency sent 1,000 notices to Duke students in the past year, including more than 40 pre-litigation letters, 21 settlement offers and eight subpoenas.
Under the proposed new policy, RIAA hopes to alert ISPs when it finds customers making music available for others to illegally download. The ISPs would then pass on the warning to the offenders, asking them to stop. If illegal activity continues, the ISPs may provide slower service and eventually cut off service altogether.
"Relative to litigation, a graduated response program is far less blunt, far more efficient and, we believe, ultimately far more effective to protect the property rights of the music community," wrote RIAA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mitch Bainwol in a Dec. 23 letter to staff of the House and Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees to provide an explanation of the decision. "We are delighted that circumstances have evolved to the point where we could transition from lawsuits to these ISP graduated response programs."
Owen Astrachan, professor of the practice of computer science and co-director of undergraduate studies for the department, said the shift in policy may be a public relations move for the association, which has gained the ire of college students around the nation for the unpopular lawsuits.
"[The RIAA] says they are doing these lawsuits for educational reasons," he said. "Well, clearly that's not working. Students aren't diminishing their downloads because they've been educated that this is not a good idea."
The RIAA has not yet disclosed the ISPs with which it has negotiated agreements. In addition, Wired News reported Monday that most major ISPs have been reluctant to confirm plans to work with the RIAA to curb file-sharing. Verizon, Comcast, AT&T and Time Warner Cable all refused to comment to the media outlet on their involvement with the proposal.
"In terms of publicity, why would the ISPs be the bad guys?" Astrachan asked. "They don't want to be the people that are harassing consumers. I don't know what the legal reasons are, but I could see the ISPs thinking 'Why would we forward litigation notices?'"
Students who have been previously targeted by the RIAA's lawsuits said they welcome the policy change, but the move does not undo the personal damage done to them by the legal battle.
"That's ridiculous. Do I get a refund?" said a sophomore who settled with the RIAA for $3000 last year and asked that his name not be used to protect his identity. "What about the kids that got sued? It's what they should be doing in the first place."
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