RIAA Sends Another 413 "Pre-Lawsuit" Letters to Students

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2007 - 2:46pm.

Washington - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that it has sent a third round of 413 "pre-litigation settlement letters" to 22 universities, notifying them of users on their networks suspected of illegal file-sharing and offering "discounted" settlements before lawsuits are filed.

The RIAA launched this new tactic in February, citing requests from some students for a way to avoid being named in a lawsuit.

The letters are sent to university administrators with a request that they be forwarded to the appropriate network user.

The recent wave of letters targeted users at schools including Ohio University (50 letters), Brown University (12) and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (32).

"Without question, this new enforcement initiative has invigorated a meaningful conversation on college campuses about music theft, its consequences and the numerous ways to enjoy legal music," said RIAA EVP and general counsel Steven Marks.

The pre-lawsuit letters have drawn mixed reactions from schools, with the University of Wisconsin refusing to act without a subpoena, and the University of Nebraska demanding a per-user fee from the RIAA to process its requests.