US Crackdown on Students' Illegal Downloads

The US recording industry today embarked on a new drive against illegal music downloading on campuses throughout America.

The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents around 90% of music companies, has drawn up a list of the universities with the worst offenders and bombarded the university authorities with complaints.

Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the RIAA, said students were the worst offenders, adding: "We know that piracy is most acute on campuses. Students have high-speed access, and have more time than money."

The RIAA, which has in the past taken out lawsuits against offenders, can identify individual computers on campuses from which the music is being downloaded for free, but not the students.

Universities are expected to take action ranging from revoking the rights of students to use campus computers to forcing them to watch eight-minute education videos about piracy.

The RIAA has sent out 15,000 complaints - triple the number it sent out the previous academic year - to 25 universities identified as having the most offenders.

Some earlier RIAA campaigns against the wider public have ended in embarrassing failure. The most notable mishap was a subpoena served on 83-year-old Gertrude Walton, a grandmother alleged to have been swapping rap music.

However, Mr Lamy defended past attempts at tackling piracy, saying: "We believe our previous deterrent efforts have made an impact. A lot of illegal operations have gone."

He said there were a number of reasons why people had stopped, and that one of those was the fear of a lawsuit.

Piracy, he added, was a "primary reason" for a sharp decline in music sales between 1999 and 2005.

Some critics claim the RIAA acts as a cartel that pays only a tiny percentage of profits to the artists. They also argue that downloading actually increases artists' exposure and, as a result, increases legitimate sales.

Others say downloads should be free and that artists and companies could make money through advertising on the sites.

Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple, the company responsible for the iPod, this month urged record companies to begin selling songs online without copy protecton.

Some universities have adopted a relaxed approach to the complaints, saying it is not their job to police piracy, but others are trying to co-operate.

Jessica Stark, the media relations co-ordinator for Ohio university, which had the highest number of complaints last year, said the university respected intellectual property rights.

Asked why illegal downloading was so prevalent at Ohio, she said: "We do have an open network, we do have a student body that's very well connected to the internet - and that's a problem."

The university tried to educate students, with periodic reminders about copyright laws, and was working with a technology company in an effort to make legal downloads affordable.

But Ms Stark added: "We can and do shut off their network access, and we send them warnings, and we can suspend them."

Some students are sceptical about the crackdown. Loren Halman, a student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which was identified as the sixth worst offender, said: "You know, downloading is such a part of student culture that college kids will never stop."