From The Press Room Of The RIAA

Yesterday, the RIAA posted the following press release on their website:

New Wave of RIAA Pre-Lawsuit Letters Targets Music Theft on 13 Campuses
Northern Illinois University, University of Southern California, University of South Florida and University of Tennessee Receive 50 Letters Each
First Letters to Brandeis, Duke, MIT, Tufts, University of Iowa Come in Fourth Wave of New Recording Industry Deterrence Program

WASHINGTON – On behalf of the major record companies, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) today sent a fourth wave of 402 pre-litigation settlement letters to 13 universities.
Earlier this year, the RIAA launched new deterrence and education initiatives focused on illegal file trafficking on college campuses – a significant escalation and expansion of the industry’s ongoing efforts, coupled with the implementation of a new process that gives students the opportunity to resolve copyright infringement claims against them at a discounted rate before a formal lawsuit is filed. Each pre-litigation settlement letter informs the school of a forthcoming copyright infringement suit against one of its students or personnel and requests that university administrators forward that letter to the appropriate network user.
In the fourth wave of this new initiative, the RIAA today sent letters in the following quantities to 13 schools, including: Brandeis University (15 pre-litigation settlement letters), Duke University (35), Iowa State University (15), Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT (23), Northern Illinois University (50), Syracuse University (20), Tufts University (15), University of Georgia (19), University of Iowa (25), University of Southern California (50), University of South Florida (50), University of Tennessee (50), and the University of Texas - Austin (35).
“With record companies embracing digital distribution models of every kind, there is more legal music available now than ever before,” said Steven Marks, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, RIAA. “For students, many of these high-quality music options are available at deeply discounted rates – or even free. Yet, for one reason or another, theft on college campuses continues at disproportionately high levels. We will continue to educate fans of all ages, but deterrence is equally important. Students must understand that there are consequences for their illegal actions.”

C'mon U.N.I.! My alma-matter is falling behind the other two state universities in their theft of music. Buckle down and start ripping off some albums to get on the R.I.A.A.'s shit list!
Look, I don't have the answers, but I'm fairly sure that policing the nation's universities and making threats against them are the way to curtail against illegal downloading.
The record labels, not universities, students, or music fans in general are entirely to blame for illegal downloading and the subsequent loss of revenue and royalties.
If you ask me, the record companies failed to develop an adequate way to address a means of delivering music in the preferred format of the general public. Additionally, the record companies are to blame for holding on to an antiquated accounting system, their complete shafting of independent record stores (allowing select "big box" retailers to create a price-cutting monopoly of their products), jacking up the price of their products when manufacturing costs were lowered (yes, I remember), and creating a business model that only makes money if an artist is able to sell loads of records.
But the R.I.A.A. is essentially a puppet for the major labels, so it's expected that they wouldn't bite the hand that feeds them and, in turn, goes after the lowest common denominator in regards to their problem.
When will they understand that the people their targeting are the same people they'll need to turn the business around? Instead of calling them "thieves," shouldn't a more appropriate title be "jaded music fans?" You'll never eliminate the word "jaded" from their title by threatening them with legal action. What you'll end up doing is making sure that they'll no longer be music fans at all.