According to theRegister, the RIAA has added music downloaders to the list of offenders in the most recent lawsuits. The Register has a copy of one of the letters sent to University execs at the University of Northern Colorado, in which RIAA president, Cary Sherman, thanks the President of UoNC and looks to alleviate any fears that the University may be held responsible. The letter can be seen <here>. As an excerpt:
I want to assure you that this lawsuit is not in any way focused on the University of Northern Colorado, or on the operation of its network. Rather, it is focused on the conduct of the particular individuals on your network who have offered to give away hundreds of copyrighted music files to millions of anonymous strangers. This is an issue of individuals being responsible for their illegal actions, and not an issue with the university. In fact, the defendants in the lawsuits will include users on a variety of networks, including other university and commercial ISP networks. I intend to make all this clear in any public comments I may have.
Attempts to confirm that downloaders of music files, not simply uploaders as has been historically the case, have not be cleared.
1. You write, "RIAA has added music downloaders to the list..." Where in Cary Shermans's letter are downloaders implicated? Sherman mentions only individuals "who have offered to give away hundreds of copyrighted music files..."
Posted at 4:23AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Brad Hill