The Recording Industry Association of America now uses a new method to obtain identities of downloading violators.

The court action, known as the John Doe process, allows the industry to sue downloaders by Internet Protocol address alone, said Jonathan Lamy, spokesman for the RIAA.

Once the industry has filed the lawsuit, it can subpoena the names of those who own the IP address from any source necessary, including college and university officials.

“Before, we could send people a letter with the opportunity to settle before the lawsuit, but now we don’t know the names of the people or where they live,” Lamy said. “The main criteria is whether they are sharing 832 songs on average.”

Because the process is based on numbers instead of names, downloaders now receive no warning and no chance to settle before a lawsuit is filed, Lamy said.

On Jan. 21, the RIAA filed 532 more copyright infringement lawsuits against computer users who have been illegally distributing copyrighted music.

“The opportunity to claim ignorance of the law is rapidly becoming increasingly dubious,” Lamy said.

However, the industry will allow violators a chance for a settlement after obtaining their names and before amending the lawsuit to reflect the information. Most settlements are $3,000 on average, varying on a case-by-case basis, Lamy said.

The industry has taken action to prevent this behavior, Lamy said.

“The RIAA is part of a joint committee of higher education members that addresses the problem of illegal file sharing on college campuses,” he said.

Although students and others still download illegally, Lamy said the action seems to be working.

“There are great legal alternatives like iTunes and Napster, and there is no reason for people to continue downloading illegally,” Lamy said.

Some students already have taken steps to prevent a lawsuit.

“It’s kind of scary,” junior journalism major Tiffany Grant said. “I personally stopped downloading because the last thing I want is to be sued. I try to stay away from it.”

Others have mixed feelings on the issue.

“I can see why the musicians would want a piece of the money for recording and producing everything, but as far as suing people for that, I don’t think it should be legal,” senior geography major Todd Sobieck said. “Downloading is good for distribution, more than anything, but I don’t do it as much anymore because most companies have software that will mess up the computer anyways.”