Like most of us, Isabella has a lot on her mind: finals, a job search, an apartment for next year, a stolen wallet, school loans, law school, a kidney infection.

Oh, and she's getting sued for up to $1.5 million by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Of course, it's unlikely the College of Arts and Science junior, who asked that her real name not be used, will have to pay that much.

"I am really struggling to make a future for myself," Isabella said. "I can't let it be the end of the world."

Isabella is being sued for sharing music on her computer over the peer-to- peer network KaZaA. It is something many, many students have done, but Isabella is only one of nine members of the NYU community being sued by the RIAA.

The RIAA does not yet know the identity of the nine, just their IP addresses, which is why she insisted her name be changed.

Isabella didn't even know that her computer was sharing the songs that she downloaded. Even songs loaded onto the system years ago, before she came to NYU, were available to other people.

"I wasn't purposely trying to share these things," she said. "The people that are out there downloading and downloading and downloading are knowledgeable enough not to get caught."

Ironically, users can't download songs unless other people are willing to share them.

"I am the one that is caught, basically because I was naive," she said.

If Isabella didn't know she had the program, she probably wouldn't be liable for sharing the music, said Rebecca Tushnet, a professor at the NYU School of Law specializing in intellectual property law. But, since Isabella did know that downloading copyrighted music was illegal, she is probably in trouble.

"The courts are unlikely to slice the salami that thin," Tushnet said. "If she knew she was using KaZaA, she had to know that she was doing something that was unauthorized."

Downloading music has become a ubiquitous part of college life, a crime that is nevertheless socially acceptable among young people - even more so than underage drinking.

"Everybody just got wrapped up in it," Isabella said.

Isabella's friends and roommates would frequently download music on her computer. She had three roommates in her suite at University residence hall last year, but she was the only one with a CD burner. Her computer quickly became the entire room's source for free music, she said. Isabella said she personally had only downloaded five of the 10 songs mentioned in the lawsuit.

There was such a feeling of community in her dorm that she didn't think twice about it, Isabella said.

"You don't even lock your door," she said.

Isabella was at home in Long Island when she got an e-mail from NYU telling her about the lawsuit.

"I was hysterical," she said. "That week my wallet had been stolen."

The RIAA claims that downloading music hurts record sales, music stores, musicians and record companies. The organization collects royalty payments of $2 for every CD burner sold in the country and 2 percent of manufacturing sales of blank media, including MiniDiscs, DATs and CDRs.

Internet piracy grew undeterred until 1999, when the recording industry first sued down Napster, the first popular file-sharing network. Other networks that built on Napster's success were also sued by the RIAA, including AudioGalaxy, Grokster, KaZaA and Morpheus.

In 2003, after the industry lost its suit against KaZaA, it changed tactics in its crusade against Internet piracy and began an attempt to discourage individual users: by sending messages warning users their activities were illegal, by putting up bogus material on the networks and by bringing individual users to court.

The tactics have begun to have an effect but have made relatively little headway into the illegal online music trade, according to a study by Pew Internet & American Life Project, a part of the Pew Research Center.

The largest legal outlet, musicmatch.com, had 5.3 million users in March, compared to about 20 million for KaZaA, according to the study.

The numbers for KaZaA have dropped from a high of around 35 million in June 2003, when the RIAA announced it was preparing to sue individual file- sharers, according to the report.

The tactics might be effective, but they are devastating to those individuals that become their target.

"I am the one struggling to go to school," Isabella said. "Missy Eliott and OutKast are not."
http://www.nyunews.com/news/campus/7420.html

it is not a crime. it is a civil matter. geesh.

Who the San Francisco 49 ers picked up on the NFL draft last week, was a lot more important to me than the RIAA's problems.

"I wasn't purposely trying to share these things," she said. "The people that are out there downloading and downloading and downloading are knowledgeable enough not to get caught."

You make an excellent point Isabella, the guys who are out on the streets selling the boot legs for $5 a pop are never going to get caught cause they already know how the game is played. Its the obvious targets, the college kids, the 12 year olds, ect.

Now then, I dont agree with this: "The courts are unlikely to slice the salami that thin," Tushnet said. "If she knew she was using KaZaA, she had to know that she was doing something that was unauthorized."

There are a lot of people I know that purchase legit cd's and download the mp3 version to save time from ripping it from the actual cd. People that use mp3 players to go run or work out. Now you say what about iTunes, thats fine if you havent purchased the CD yet, once you have why would you pay more to get the song you already own? Case in point, Kazaa is not illegal, and there are people in this world that may have every single one of those mp3's in their shared folder accounted for in legitimate cd's. Now I know you say, it doesnt matter its still sharing, fine, so why doesnt the RIAA prove that some of those files where actually distributed.

"If she knew she was using KaZaA, she had to know that she was doing something that was unauthorized."

Since when was using KaZaA unauthorized? Hell, Go-Kart Records, among others, are using it as a promotion tool...

"The tactics have begun to have an effect but have made relatively little headway into the illegal online music trade" more doublespeak yet again ... ~pepe~

If i was her, i'd consider buying every single cd that the RIAA listed as a cause of the law suit and say she has the legal write to have those mp3s =o

Where was this posted originally?

"I am the one struggling to go to school," Isabella said. "Missy Eliott and OutKast are not."

Cry me a river, bimbo. You got caught. Now fork over a few grand and get on with your life.

I guess you are right about that mroop..she knew about it so she has to live with it. I used to download alot.. but nowadays there is hardly shit to download and I dont feel like wasting my bandwidth and getting in trouble with dese cocksuckers.. The truth of the matter is if you gonna share files and alot of them just be warned they are lookin.....I know dis they have been pinging me like crazy these few weeks....I use McAfee firewall along with Protowall...they may not be 100% foolproof...but at least i know who is looking into my computer....They can sue me if they like......they are nothing but sellouts...insteading of building talent...they depend on those hits to rake in the dollars....RIAA grow up and get a real life....I feel sorry for the targets.... they got detoured...but extinction for the RIAA is coming fast if they still cant harness the power of p2p and utilize..that way we can share our files and everyone in the business will be compensated for their efforts creating music...no one will be left in the cold ( maybe retailers) but this is probably just a dream!

"Downloading music has become a ubiquitous part of college life, a crime that is nevertheless socially acceptable among young people - even more so than underage drinking."

*cough*~bullshit~*cough*
I have yet to meet a single person who has not or does not participate in downloading.
EVERYONE DOES IT! STOP TRYING TO CHARACTERIZE THESE PEOPLE AS A FRINGE GROUP OR A SINGLE DEMOGRAPHIC!

"I have yet to meet a single person who has not or does not participate in downloading."

Let me guess - you are a student? : )

Actually,
I am a 42 yr old adult that owns a hard
CD or vinyl copy of EVERYthing that is
stored as an mp3 on my computer.
I assume that others do the same.
I don't assume guilt of everyone.

The mere use of Kazaa is not a crime of
any kind since there are many non-
infringing uses.

I also do not know anyone who does not
participate in downloading.

Please, continue the "Big Lie" Mroop.

mroop stop sterotyping. In my store I run acrosss at least 75% of my customers who download and they are not students. There are middle aged moms, dads, poor and well to do. Kids, young adults, businesspeople all over the spectrum.

it is that widespread. awehr is right. you have no compassion, I know you would've been one of those who would say to Ghandi or Martin Luther King "Quit crying about your rights. you broke the law and deserve to be put in jail. You knew you were doing wrong."

People engaging in fair use have the right to do it. The industry whined about Cassette recorders being illegal and piracy until the courts ruled, now they've shut up about it. The courts haven't ruled yet on this, until then It's fair use.

Downloading music is just to introducer to the downloading of movies . The MPAA isn't going to try anything like the sue 'em all campaign. They prefer long-term methods, like ubiquidous DRM and the new brainwashing campaign.

Let's see - everyone awehr knows downloads. Everyone Dreddsnik knows downloads. 75% of compmore's clients download. But the figure I always see bandied about here is 60 million downloaders. And the US population is 300 million. You can draw your own conclusions.

I hereby conclude that Mroop is an ubiquitous asshole.

just shows that surveys are flawed.

also consider that out of 300million people how many own computers?