HUNTINGTON -- Illegal downloading of music, movies and games continues to be a problem among teenagers and college students in Huntington and across the country.

About 100 Marshall University students have been identified this semester as illegally downloading games, movies and music, according to Steve Hensley, dean of Student Affairs.

He said the students are mostly freshmen, and all live on campus. They are identified after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sends out Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices that certain Internet protocol addresses have been flagged for illegally downloading or exchanging music.

The university then tracks the Internet protocol address to the student and shuts off the Internet connection to his or her room. Hensley said he meets with the students to talk about the university's policy for student rights and responsibilities and urges them to delete the files as soon as possible.

"Any violation of public law is a violation of university policy," he said. "We give them a stern warning that they need to remove the files."

Once the items are deleted, students pay a $50 reconnection fee to restore their Internet connection. Hensley said most students take immediate action and pay the fee.

Many, he said, didn't realize they could be caught.

"Every student I've talked to knows it's illegal," he said. "But it's like speeding on the interstate. It's something illegal, but everybody does it. There's a belief that it's all right because everybody does it."

He said there also is confusion about file-sharing programs that are legal. They allow file sharing to take place, but music and movies aren't among the items allowed to be shared.

Marshall University made regional headlines in 2007 and 2008 after the music industry pursued lawsuits against students for illegal downloading.

A February 2007 story by The Associated Press stated that Marshall and Ohio universities were among a list of higher education institutions being targeted by the music industry. At the time, Marshall ranked 25th nationally with 154 complaints in 2005-2006. There were 331 complaints in 2006-2007.

Once the university identified the students, about 20 at Marshall, they were urged to contact RIAA about settling for a significantly reduced amount to avoid a lawsuit.

In August 2007, RIAA sent out 503 pre-litigation settlement letters to students at 58 universities nationwide, including Marshall.

Liz Kennedy, spokesperson for RIAA, said lawsuits against college students were stopped last December. But they continue to send out Internet protocol address notifications to curtail illegal downloading.

"We have an active online investigation team that monitors illicit peer-to-peer file trafficking online and looks for copywritten songs being shared," Kennedy said via e-mail. "When we find these instances on college campuses, we send a communication called a DMCA notice to the university to let them know that illegal music file-sharing activity is taking place on their networks."

She said the DMCA letters alert administrators that a student was caught illegally sharing music, and the RIAA relies upon the university to then follow up with the individual in question and ensure that the stolen songs are taken down.

"These DMCA notices go out regularly and frequently," Kennedy added. "We send thousands per week to schools all over the country."

RIAA will still pursue lawsuits if illegally downloaded material is not removed, and universities are required to release names of students who fail to comply.

In April 2008, a federal judge in Huntington forced Marshall University to release the names of seven students to RIAA who were targeted in a lawsuit.

According to the RIAA Web site, the notifications are a warning. However, not heeding them does run the risk of being sued.

"The notice you received ... about a copyright infringement complaint from us does not mean you are being sued. It is a warning that we have detected unlawful downloading or distribution from your computer and it is meant to put you on notice that this activity should stop. If you fail to heed this warning and continue to illegally download and share copyrighted material then you do expose yourself to being sued for damages arising from copyright infringement."

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