The RIAA is stepping up its campaign against infringing college students this year, though university responses appear soft.
According to a recent article by the Associated Press, the RIAA is issuing thousands of additional infringement notices to college students this year. “It’s something we feel we have to do,” RIAA president Cary Sherman said. “We have to let people know that if they engage in this activity, they are not anonymous.” Students at Ohio State and Purdue University have both received the largest volume of infringement notices, racking more than 1,000 each since last fall. Others high on the list include the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Tennessee, the University of South Carolina, Michigan State, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
A number of factors make college campuses especially prone to high volumes of piracy. College-aged students are technologically savvy, highly interested in music, and generally have larger amounts of free time than working adults. They also have easy access to high-speed networks, and often roam within WiFi-connected campuses. The result is a heavy volume of media-sharing, though college administrators are mostly uninterested in playing a police role. In response to violations, most students simply receive warnings or are forced to watch an anti-piracy DVD. But heavy crackdowns would have an adverse impact on student life, something universities work hard to protect. “In a sense, the (complaint) letter is asking us to pursue an investigation and as the service provider we don’t see that as our role,” said Purdue spokesman Steve Tally.