Jazzeast

The music industry filed a lawsuit against 477 computer users which include dozens of college students in 11 states, charging them with illegal sharing of music across the Internet.

"There is also a complementary need for enforcement by copyright owners against the serious offenders to remind people that this activity is illegal," said the group's president, Cary Sherman.

The music industry filed its latest charges against ’John Doe‘ suspects, describing them only by the numeric Internet protocol addresses they use. It also said that lawyers will be working together with the courts in requesting subpoenas versus the universities and other providers of commercial Internet in order to gain their names.

Campus officials warned their students at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania months ago regarding copyright infringement on their computer networks as requested by the recording industry.

The latest filings resulted to a total o 2,454 lawsuits by the recording industry. None of the cases has begun its trial yet and about 437 people have agreed to pay the financial penalties of approximately $3,000 as settlements.

"Not everyone agrees that downloading and file-sharing is copyright infringement," wrote the school's technology director, Connie L. Beckman. "While this may be debatable, Mansfield University is required to comply with the law."

The trade group said that the newest lawsuits are against students at University of Minnesota and Virginia Polytechnic Institute, the University of Kansas, Trinity University of San Antonio, Trinity College of Hartford, Conn., Texas A&M University, Mansfield University, Sacred Heart University of Fairfield, Conn., Princeton University in New Jersey, Michigan State University, Gonzaga University of Spokane, Wash., Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University in Atlanta, and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.