The College received a preliminary notice from the RIAA a month ago about its intention to sue a student at the College, but Amherst has yet to receive formal legal notification from the RIAA about the actual suit. "We have been notified of the intent to file a suit against a user," said Associate Dean of the Faculty Rick Griffiths, who has been assigned to the case. "We received a notice informing us that we will be subpoenaed to identify the user."
The RIAA is able to detect when one is engaged in illegal downloading. However, the RIAA can only identify the computer's IP address and needs the College to provide a name. "All the RIAA can see is the IP address which is unique to each computer," said Tom Warger, Amherst's Interim Director of Information Technology. "In the initial contact the RIAA did not give us that information. Over Thanksgiving break we received that information."
The College has attempted to identify the student but has not done so conclusively. "We have made a tentative identification," said Warger. "When there are multiple students [connected to the Internet in one dorm room] it is hard to tell. At this stage we are taking no action pending legal developments." Until the College receives formal legal documentation, it does not plan to take further action. "At this point we are not taking any action. We are waiting for the legal picture to clear up," said Warger.
Warger said that he expects that in the next few weeks the College will be subpoenaed to divulge the student's identity. "Based on the experiences of other colleges, including Mt. Holyoke College, we think we may be getting a subpoena any day," he said.
It is not the first time the RIAA has approached the College. "We occasionally get notices that an individual is advertising the availability of songs," said Warger. "They ask us to cut the students' Internet access, which we do. Once the software and songs are removed we restore their Internet."
The College already has several measures in place to try to reduce the incidents of copyright infringement. "We already have an acceptable use policy which means that one is not supposed to use the system for downloading copyrighted material," said Warger.
Both Griffiths and Warger believe that the RIAA is looking to stop the growing incidents of illegal downloading through the recent onslaught of lawsuits. "It is risky to download now," said Griffiths. "It is wide-spread and [the RIAA] is looking to make examples of people."
Warger agreed that the RIAA is determined to stop the growing number of copyright infringements. "The RIAA has been slowly and steadily increasing the pressure for colleges and universities to get us to do more in the enforcement role for copyright problems," he said.
Cary Sherman, the RIAA's president, said that he thinks it is important for people to stop the practice of downloading music while they are young. "College students are some of most avid music fans," said Sherman in a press release on the RIAA's Web site. "The music habits and customs they develop now are likely to stay with them for life. It's especially important for us to educate them about the law, the harm suffered by musicians, labels and retailers alike when music is stolen, and the great legal ways to enjoy music online."
Bess Levin '06, who transferred to the College last year from Boston University (BU), was fined by BU during her freshman year after the RIAA informed the University that she had downloaded illegal music. "Although I don't agree with the actions on the part of the University, their scare tactic was successful because I haven't downloaded anything since then," said Levin. However, she does not think the College should institute any such policy. "It was twisted logic for me to pay the school instead of the RIAA. ... I currently enjoy other people's music via ITunes."