According to a campus-wide e-mail that was circulated last Thursday by Dean of Students Ben Lieber and Director of Information Technology Peter Schilling, the RIAA's initiative "starts with identifying to the president of a college or university the Internet addresses of individuals it suspects of illegally sharing music files."
Responsibility then falls to the institution's president to pass along a message from the RIAA to the suspected individuals, recommending that the suspect pay a settlement fee and thereby avoid a lawsuit. If the suspect does not respond to this missive, the RIAA claims the right to take legal action to first learn his name, and then "stop and penalize" all illegal activities.
In their co-authored e-mail to the College community, Schilling and Lieber expressed ambivalence about the administration's role in the legal crackdown, claiming that they have not yet decided how they would respond in the event that they receive such a letter from the RIAA.
"While we condemn illegal activities and are committed to supporting federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in their legal actions, we also support an individual's right to defend him or herself against allegations of wrongdoing," their e-mail states.
Though the College does not want to serve as the RIAA's mouthpiece, it also feels responsible for informing students who are in danger of imminent legal action. As such, Thursday's e-mail was intended to apprise the student body of the situation, without defining the administration's position.
Though the RIAA has made efforts to curtail music piracy on campuses in the past, the present endeavor appears more earnest than previous attempts. In 2005, the RIAA, along with the Motion Picture Association of America, brought suit against students at several different universities, mainly targeting downloads that utilized the "Internet2" network through the now defunct i2hub file-sharing program.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on a letter written by RIAA president Cary H. Sherman to the 13 universities whose students were at risk of lawsuit. "Unfortunately, the piracy problem on campuses remains extensive and unacceptable, and compromises the music industry's ability to invest in new music," wrote Sherman. "We do not take this step lightly and wish it were not necessary."
Amherst students, however, are skeptical of the initiative's efficacy. "I won't [stop file-sharing] until I personally know someone whom it happens to or until I get my own warning," said Stephen Stewart '09. "I feel like the millions of people who file-share and download all over the nation; my turn won't be coming for a while."
Certainly, previous attempts to thwart file-sharing have proved ineffectual. When a recent version of iTunes blocked several popular sharing programs, including OurTunes, students turned to other resources.
"A significant majority of the student body engages in file-sharing, to various degrees," reported Matt Yellin '09. "The more intense kids use stuff like BitTorrent, and the average kid probably uses Limewire to get most of their music."
Moreover, despite its illegality, students are not hesitant to publicly proclaim their file-sharing habits, according to Stephen Grigelevich '10. "I know a lot of people who use Limewire, and in one of my classes some of the students have openly mentioned that they use similar programs," he said.
For many students, the decision to continue file-sharing is carefully considered, and the party whose interests are taken into account is the artist, not the record label.
"Unless you are an independent musician without a label, the vast majority of the profits from album sales go to the label," Bill Nahill '08 pointed out. "It's also important to realize that people who download music illegally spend a lot more money on music than those who don't. They tend to attend more concerts, buy more merchandise and even buy a lot of albums."
Whether the RIAA's new policy will deter these most dedicated of music seekers remains to be seen, but it appears unlikely to have an immediate effect.
"I'll take my chances," said Stewart, in regards to the possibility of a lawsuit. "I need to keep finding new music."
Still, students are aware of the threat of legal action, and hope that the College keeps them abreast of the situation.
"I'm glad that Dean Lieber doesn't seem intent on helping to prevent our downloading," said Yellin. "It's not his business or part of his role, and I think he feels the same way. However, if Amherst knows that I am being watched and doesn't let me know while I can stop, I would feel pretty awful and betrayed if I got busted."