Recording Industry Association of America files latest round in move to stop theft of music over Internet.
By: David Campbell
A Princeton University student is among 91 college students being sued in the newest round of copyright infringement lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America on behalf of major record companies, RIAA spokeswoman Jenni Engebretsen said Thursday.
Last month, the RIAA filed federal lawsuits against 405 students at 18 campuses across the country including 25 students at Princeton in response to what the association has called an "epidemic" of music theft using a speedy, advanced network called Internet2.
The lightening-fast network is intended by participating colleges and universities for academic research. Through the use of a file-sharing application known as i2hub, students are "hijacking" Internet2 to illegally download copyrighted songs and other works on a large scale, the RIAA claims. Downloading from i2hub on Internet2 is extremely fast, in most cases taking less than five minutes for a movie and less than 20 seconds for a song, RIAA has said.
"As long as students continue to corrupt this specialized academic network for the flagrant theft of music, we will continue to make it clear that there are consequences for these unlawful actions," said RIAA President Cary Sherman. "With the multitude of legal music alternatives available to students today, there is simply no excuse for this ongoing illegal downloading on college campuses."
The lawsuits announced Thursday target students at a total of 33 schools.
Princeton University spokesman Eric Quinones said Thursday that the university has sought to make clear to students, through published policies and educational outreach, that copyright infringement must be taken seriously.
"The university will continue to make students aware of the serious consequences of violating copyright laws," he said.

