Some on-campus Ohio University students recently have been targeted by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegally downloading music, but the RIAA's initiative doesn't end at the edges of campus.
The initiative, launched in February, targets the more than half of college students who download music illegally, the RIAA reports.
Students who live in the University Courtyard Apartments, which has access to the OU campus network and Internet, are subject to the same RIAA lawsuits as students who live in residence halls.
But for about 8,000 OU students who live elsewhere off campus, a similar lawsuit could be filed.
Some of those students say the possibility of being sued isn't as much of a concern as it is for students using OU as a provider.
I have downloaded and file-shared in the past using Napster
LimeWire BitTorrent and other random Web sites but it's never been a concern
said junior Shawn Workman, a resident of State Street who uses Time Warner Internet.
Stephen Rice, an OU senior and Smith Street resident, said he also has engaged in illegal music theft when he uses LimeWire. Rice, whose house also uses Time Warner, said he has downloaded a lot of music but has never received warnings from the RIAA or Time Warner.
Junior Laura Kalnasy's illegal music theft has come to a halt since the RIAA launched its new initiative.
Kalnasy, a Mill Street resident who has used Limewire to download a couple hundred songs
has not received notices from the RIAA or her ISP ' which she didn't know ' but said she changed her ways because students who live on campus have been sued.
Now it is a concern
she said. I don't feel like getting in trouble.
Since September of 2003, the RIAA has filed more than 18,000 lawsuits against people who use a commercial Internet provider and engage in music theft. The lawsuits are filed on an ongoing basis, said Jenni Engebretsen, an RIAA spokeswoman.
Area commercial ISPs have different approaches to targeting clients who participate in music theft.
FrogNet, a commercial ISP in Athens, had fewer than three dozen customers receive notices from the RIAA in 2006 because of illegal file-sharing, said Luke Strevig, a FrogNet representative. There are usually fewer notices annually, he said.
When FrogNet receives a notice from the RIAA about a client who is participating in illegal file sharing, FrogNet notifies the client so that he or she can remove the copyrighted work from his or her computer. After a second notice, FrogNet discontinues the client's Internet connection.
FrogNet provides service to about 5,000 people in the Athens area, and about 1,000 of those people have high-speed Internet access, which is commonly associated with file sharing, Strevig said.
Intelliwave, another Athens ISP, has not received notices from the RIAA, said managing partner Chris Cooper. Intelliwave does not release the Internet activity of its clients, and Cooper declined to comment on how many Athens residents use Intelliwave.
Hocking Internet, which is an ISP in Logan that has clients in Athens, also has yet to receive an RIAA notice, said office manager Chris Warren.
Hocking Internet does discourage clients from peer-to-peer file sharing
Warren said.
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Janelle Huelsman
