In light of recently filed lawsuits across the country by the Recording Industry Association of America, UW-Eau Claire officials are reminding students about the dangers of file sharing and downloading copyrighted music.

Eau Claire is one of 36 colleges and universities nationwide to have received notifications of infringement from Holme, Roberts & Owen, a Denver-based legal firm representing the recording industry, Associate Dean of Student Development Jodi Thesing-Ritter said.

Of the 24 notices received, two were from duplicate IP addresses and two applied to Chippewa Valley Technical College students living in the residence halls, leaving 20 Eau Claire students who have received out-of-court settlement offers, she said.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Thesing-Ritter said. “It’s devastating to students who are now faced with serious legal problems. We just want to give students the information so they can make an informed decision.”

Eau Claire received 473 notices from the RIAA during the 2006-07 academic year – up from 199 in 2005-06, according to the association’s Top 25 schools with the most complaints, published Feb. 21.

“Because we know . campus music downloaders can sometimes be impervious to even the most compelling educational messages or legal alternatives, these new efforts aim to help students recognize that the consequences for illegal downloading are more real than ever before,” said RIAA President Cary Sherman in a Feb. 28 press release.

Chris Cox, director of McIntyre Library and the university’s copyright officer, said that what makes on-campus violations unique is that the university deals with students internally while other Internet service providers release the names of violators to the RIAA.

If faced with subpoenas, however, the university would be required to supply the names of students who violated copyright law – but not before contacting the students first.

“No students have had to respond to anyone but UWEC,” Thesing-Ritter said, adding that since the university has not provided the RIAA with students’ names, it is important that students confirm their IP addresses before accepting a settlement. “I don’t want anyone to settle unless they want to,” she said.

Rick Richmond, manager of Residence Hall Computing, agreed.

“We have to keep in mind these are allegations,” Richmond said. “We have to provide an appeal process for students. We’re doing everything we can to make sure that process remains.”

Sherman said the RIAA hopes to work with universities to educate students and help prevent situations in which students could find themselves facing a lawsuit.

“We hope that university administrators recognize the beneficial role they will play … by helping avert a lawsuit against a student, but better yet . by implementing the technological tools that prevent piracy from happening in the first place,” Sherman said.

Officials said students need to take more responsibility to learn about copyright law. Information can be found on RESCOM’s Web site.

In addition, the university has utilized other resources, including an informational video at various sites around campus to provide students with the information they need to stay out of trouble, Thesing-Ritter said.

“Clearly, we’ve been trying to talk about this, and yet students aren’t changing,” she said. “Unfortunately, unless the consequences are real for you or someone you know, you don’t necessarily think about it happening to you.”