Any student on any campus in the country (United States) who is illegally downloading music from the internet may receive an email stating - they will be sued - in the coming months. F or using the school's computer network and a program called Ares.

However, they will have a chance to settle out of court. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sent out a batch of 413 pre-litigation settlement emails to 22 universities.

At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a student was accused of illegally downloading 381 songs by the (RIAA). The student said she could not imagine that anyone expected her to pay $3,000 — $7.87 per song — for some 1980s ballads and Spice Girls tunes, she downloaded for laughs in her dorm room. The student said, “obviously I knew it was illegal, but no one got in trouble for it’. Her parents paid the $3,000 settlement.

Another student received an email because he had downloaded 100 songs on a program called Lime Wire using the university network.

At least 500 university students nationwide have paid settlements to avoid being sued by the (RIAA). Students who do not take the offer face lawsuits — and minimum damages of $750 for each copyrighted recording shared if they lose.

The RIAA sent letters to 22 schools : Bates College (7 pre-litigation settlement letters), Brown University (12), Central Michigan University (24), Colby College (5), College of William & Mary (12), Cornell University (19), Fairfield University (15), Florida International University (16), Indiana University (28), Keene State University (19), Kent State University (19), Morehead State University (10), Ohio University (50), Oklahoma State University (16), University of Massachusetts – Amherst (32), University of Maryland System (25),University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (23), University of New Hampshire (17), University of New Mexico (16), University of Pennsylvania (17), University of Rochester (22), and Williams College (9)

Source: Music piracy crackdown nets college kids