When the recording industry fired off its first wave of pre-litigation notices this month, some observers worried that colleges would be coerced into identifying song-swapping suspects without even being subpoenaed. So when Wired's Listening Post blog appeared to unearth evidence that the University of Michigan was doing just that — well, it seemed like cause for concern.
Listening Post wrote that Michigan "is in the process of identifying to the RIAA the [at least] twelve students belonging to the IP addresses on the RIAA's hit list." The blog went on to cite a passage from a letter sent to students:
On Friday, March 9, and Saturday, March 10, the University of Michigan received notification that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) intends to sue or receive settlement from more than a dozen members of the U-M community engaged in unlawful peer-to-peer file sharing of music over the Internet. The RIAA has designated these individuals through IP addresses, and the University is in the process of identifying and notifying them.
But that message seems not only standard but fairly harmless. The clause that probably led to the blogger's concern — "the University is in the process of identifying and notifying them" — says Michigan plans to pass the pre-litigation notices onto its students, not that the university will turn around and identify those students to the recording industry.
In fact, several of the colleges that received batches of pre-litigation letters have already reported forwarding those messages to the appropriate students. And most of those institutions are adamant about not sharing information with the RIAA. Doing so, they realize, could be a big legal mistake. Most colleges are reluctantly willing to act as third-party "conduits" by passing on the notices, but few are eager to open themselves up to greater legal liability.
Critics of the recording industry's campaign against campus piracy might still have some quibbles with Michigan's handling of the matter. Some may point out, for example, that the university's own e-mail message about the notices doesn't encourage students who receive them to seek legal counsel. But it's worth noting that Michigan doesn't appear to be acting differently from other colleges in the same situation. –Brock Read
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