End of RIAA lawsuits long overdue
The Recording Industry Association of America has filed about 35,000 lawsuits against individuals since 2003 for pirating music illegally. Most of the individuals challenged by the RIAA have been college students. 37 Syracuse University students were sued by the RIAA for pirating music on campus in the past two years. Unlike other schools, such as the University of Oregon, SU cooperated with the RIAA by revealing the names of students tagged for piracy on campus computers.
But all of that is coming to an end now. The RIAA announced it will no longer file lawsuits against individuals involved with illegal downloading.
The RIAA lawsuits were an arbitrary plan to extract money from easy targets – college students. The RIAA itself operates like a front to protect the interests of an industry that failed to adapt to changing technologies. It does little more than take flack for recording artists and record labels.
This is long overdue. SU was wrong for ever cooperating with the RIAA. The university should have resisted pressure from the RIAA and dealt with the accused students on more creative terms in-house. Instead, SU offered up its students to a business interest, all for a plan that was quickly abandoned.
Digital piracy is still illegal. Music recording artists and the music industry have felt a pinch in their profits. But that does nothing to justify extortionist no trial fines of $3,000 or lawsuits for up to $150,000 in damages if left unpaid.
The punishment was obviously disproportionate and SU and the RIAA are equally responsible for its implementation. Maybe SU will think twice before succumbing to a business interest again.
