by Bryan Gibel
Daily Lobo
UNM received a subpoena Thursday from the Recording Industry Association of America, demanding the University release the names of 16 UNM network users suspected of illegal file sharing.
The University has information for only one or two network users, said Richard Mertz, a lawyer for UNM.
"Things are moving forward," Mertz said "It's bad news for at least one person."
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The RIAA filed civil lawsuits for copyright infringement in May against 16 unidentified UNM network users.
A New Mexico federal judge denied the RIAA's request for subpoenas in May, ruling the subpoenas were too broad and could have compromised personal information, such as Social Security and credit card numbers.
UNM and the association came to an agreement about how to release the names of the network users, and the subpoenas were issued.
The RIAA had to subpoena the University for the users' identities because they aren't identified in UNM's network.
UNM doesn't have records for most of the users because it only keeps network records for 28 days, Mertz said.
The RIAA sent the University notices for impending lawsuits after the 28-day period, so no information is available, he said.
One of the incidents happened on a computer with multiple users, so it cannot be tracked to one person, Mertz said.
He said one user settled outside of court with the association.
UNM is looking for the network IDs and will answer the subpoenas at the end of October, Mertz said.
Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the association, could not be reached for comment.
Mertz said the network user who faces the largest suit has been accused of illegally sharing
1,463 songs.
The minimum fine for each song is $750, Mertz said.
He said users could be sued for up to $150,000 per song.
"I don't know of any case where someone has been fined the maximum penalty," Mertz said. "But if you get the wrong judge, we're theoretically looking at some astronomical numbers."
Mertz said users could have settled with the RIAA for about $3,500 for a month after the first notices were received in May.
But now it will be more expensive to settle, he said.
"Basically, students may also be responsible for legal fees incurred for litigation on the part of RIAA," Mertz said.
Student Aaron Anderson said students shouldn't be prosecuted for illegally downloading music on the Internet.
"When someone downloads music, they don't mean to do anyone any harm," he said. "So, I don't think it constitutes a crime."
Anderson said the $750 fine per song is too much.
"Maybe a small amount of money would be reasonable," he said. "But $750 per song is way too much. It's exorbitant."
Mertz said UNM continues to receive notices requesting it to save network information of users suspected of illegally sharing music.
Only the first 16 notices have been followed up with lawsuits, Mertz said.
The University received notice of another possible lawsuit Monday, he said.
"That's one more student in the dorms somewhere who might get sued by the RIAA," he said. "So, it's an ongoing process."
