RIAA Launches P2PLawsuits.com

As part of its new initiative to convince universities to turn over the names of students suspected of copyright infringement (more on that soon), the RIAA has launched its P2Plawsuits.com website, which, in a deliciously ironic twist, had previously hosted all sorts of ads for dodgy P2P clients.

On the site, students whose universities have agreed to turn over student names to the RIAA and users whose ISPs have agreed to turn over subscriber names to the RIAA can apply for a settlement by entering their case number, and even pay their settlement online, which the RIAA promises will be represent "a substantial discount" from what they would have had to settle for before this campaign launched.

The new process is a response to the RIAA's frustration with our legal system, which requires the organization to use the IP address of a suspected infringer to subpoena ISPs or universities for the name of the suspected infringer, after which settlement talks usually begin. In a conference call that ended minutes ago, however, the organization claimed that it launched the university-oriented part of this campaign as a response to file sharing defendants' pleas for a way to have settled the cases privately, so that their names don't become part of the public record.

The RIAA's latest letter-writing campaign -- with its "courtesy," er, "pre-lawsuit notices" -- is supposed to serve as a nice reminder to universities and ISP officials to turn over the names of those file-sharing students who appear to think their money is better spent on Ramen noodles and beer than music.

The new initiative, launched Wednesday, is remarkably similar to the RIAA's latest ISP program that asks providers to back the organization's piracy investigations by releasing any name tied to an IP address suspected of file sharing. The twist: The RIAA will be now sending letters to both colleges and ISPs officially asking for this info. The goal: Would-be defendants -- including students, universities and ISPs -- get a chance to settle with the RIAA before a costly lawsuit process begins, and the RIAA has a chance to skirt the hassles (like filing subpoenas) of a traditional legal processes.

The RIAA mailed out the first round of these letters, which it calls "pre-lawsuit notices," to 13 schools: Arizona State, Marshall University, North Carolina State, North Dakota State, Northern Illinois University, Ohio University, Syracuse University, U-Mass Amherst, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, University of South Florida, University of Southern California, University of Tennessee at Knoxville and the University of Texas at Austin.

Aside from encouraging the universities to turn over the names of the suspected infringers, the letters ask that copies of the notices be given to the students in question. If students settle their cases over the phone or on P2PLawsuits.com within 20 days of their university's receipt of the letter, the RIAA promises their settlement will be at a "substantial discount." That's compared to the typical settlement offering, which is estimated at around $3,000. (The RIAA won't release an actual settlement average.)

Universities are now contemplating whether they should consult with students before turning over their names. Sally Linder, a spokeswoman for Ohio University, told Wired News that the initial RIAA "courtesy letter" showed up last night, but that it does not contain the IP addresses of the 50 students suspected of infringement. That data will arrive in a later document, possibly because the RIAA wants to test the waters for a potential backlash before disclosing the IP addresses to universities.

Linder said that once the second document with the IP addresses arrives, "(Ohio University) attorneys will be reviewing this new request and determining the most appropriate response under the law and university policy." She said two laws would come into play: "the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, which protects the privacy of student records, and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which the university complies with. We at the university don't condone illegal downloading and sharing, and we have clear policies regarding computing resources."

Note to students: Start saving your beer money -- you might need it for court.