The RIAA announced late last month that it is shifting away from pursuing individuals who illegally share copyrighted music online with legal action and is going to work more closely with internet service providers instead. Students should not have to worry about RIAA lawsuits in the future.

In a letter dated Dec. 23, Chairman and CEO of the RIAA Mitch Bainwol wrote that the RIAA had ceased its “broad-based end user litigation program against illegal downloading on peer-to-peer (p2p) networks” due to a fast growing legal digital marketplace and greater awareness of laws pertaining to copyrights on digital media.

However, one campus official, Pam Gerace, director of student legal services, remains skeptical on how much of an effect this will have on students.

“It’s very vague. I cannot imagine that they’re just abandoning this,” Gerace said.

Gerace said she often spends 10 to 15 hours per week working on RIAA lawsuits filed against students.

“The hours this has taken away from other things that we could be for students is just phenomenal,” she said.

While she said she would welcome an end to the lawsuits, Gerace said she was not convinced that students are safe from litigation based on what the RIAA has announced so far.

“My concern is that it’s going to be misleading and it’s going to lull students into thinking that if they just download a couple of songs they’ll be safe,” she said.

The announcement could be dangerous, Gerace said, as many students are unaware of the file-sharing components built into many of the programs used to download music. This will continue to put them at risk. A program that contains even one illegally downloaded song can then distribute it to thousands of people around the world without the user even being aware of it, Gerace said.

A RIAA representative who refused to be named or directly quoted said lawsuits will remain an option but that pre-litigation letters will no longer be sent to universities and new “John Doe” lawsuits will no longer be filed.

Gerace said the RIAA uses the “Doe” lawsuits with the University, since the RIAA does not have the identity of the student unless the case goes to trial. She said that legal fees could easily reach as much as $300,000 for one of these cases if it were to go to trial.

Stan North Martin, director of outreach for the Office of Information Technology, said his department will continue to educate students on the potential ramifications of disregarding copyright laws.

“I’m sure there are a lot of students on campus who are not aware of how much of an impact this has had on a lot of students who have been subpoenaed or have received prelitigation letters,” he said.

A student facing potential litigation from the RIAA who spoke under condition of anonymity said he is glad others may not have to face the threat of a lawsuit.

“It’s just a lot to put on your mind,” he said.

The student, who is working his way through college, said he downloaded over 200 songs, and RIAA told him that he could have to pay $750 for each of them if he goes to court.

“The only option is just to file bankruptcy so that’s what I’m going to have to do,” he said. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t pay it.”