Georgetown University students could be sued by the Recording Industry Association of America following the recent request of students’ IP addresses by the RIAA.
Although the RIAA has notified Georgetown recently that it intends to subpoena “information from the university relating to certain IP addresses,” no students are currently being sued.
According to Julie Green Bataille, assistant vice president for Communications, the university had received a “handful” of IP addresses belonging to Georgetown students over the past month from the RIAA, but she could not confirm the exact number.
She also said that she was unaware of what reason, if any, the RIAA had given for its planned subpoenas, and that she did not know when the RIAA intended to subpoena the information.
The matter is being handled by the University Counsel’s office, which referred inquiries to Bataille.
In cases where the university was able to identify a student based on the IP address given by the RIAA, it sent the student a confidential notice of the possible impending subpoena, along with advice to seek independent legal counsel. Georgetown also reminded students of the terms of its Acceptable Use Policy, which states that “Georgetown University equipment and software may not be used to violate copyright or the terms of any license agreement.”
Consequences for violators of the policy are determined by the Office of Student Conduct, although the policy does note that the university “may restrict the use of its computers and network systems for electronic communications when faced with evidence of violation of university policies, or federal or local laws.”
The RIAA began suing file-sharers in September of last year, and recently brought cases against 532 individuals using a “John Doe” system where defendants are identified by IP address instead of their name.
University Information Services is also taking steps to raise awareness about illegal downloads by including information about copyright laws into an online tutorial that educates students about what constitutes plagiarism and copyright violation, among other topics.
