North Carolina State Students Advised to Fight RIAA

Last month, as part of a nationwide crackdown on peer-to-peer sharing of music files on college campuses, the Recording Industry Association of American asked North Carolina State University to forward 23 prelitigation notices to students identified only by their Internet addresses. The university complied, but the director of student legal services, Pam Gerace, has advised students not to identify themselves to the RIAA, according to an article in the campus newspaper, The Technician. Ms. Gerace warned students that if they reveal their identities to the RIAA, the trade group might then sue the students or give their names to record companies, the newspaper said. An accompanying editorial applauded Ms. Gerace's efforts, saying that if students settle with the RIAA, it will be encouraged to go after more students at the university that it suspects are infringing copyrights. "It is imperative that the university community makes it clear that the RIAA can't shove us around with its deep pockets, and the opposition starts with the accused — students," the editorial said. –Andrea L. Foster