ISU students could be affected by the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) crackdown on individual users of file sharing networks.

The RIAA announced last week it would begin searching file sharing networks for individual users offering large amounts of copyrighted mp3 files. It will then file lawsuits against those users according to the RIAA Web site, www.riaa.org.

“I think it’s very possible [that someone at Iowa State will face a lawsuit],” Mike Bowman, assistant director of Academic Information Technologies, said.

Bowman said users need to stop and think.

“I think anybody who is using any of those [file sharing] networks needs to evaluate what they’re doing and stop doing it,” he said. “The ones [the RIAA is] really after are the ones using Kazaa, eDonkey or iMesh.”

Kazaa, eDonkey or iMesh are three of the more popular file sharing networks, he said.

Paul Tanaka, university counsel, said he understands the position of the RIAA.

“It’s probably a direction the RIAA felt it had to go,” he said. “Students should be aware that if they are making files available … it is a violation of copyright.”

Vic Vijayakumar, current administrator for StrangeSearch and online editor for the Daily, said he thinks the recent RIAA actions will be felt at Iowa State.

“It will affect file sharing at ISU [and] it is going to affect the number of people who register for StrangeSearch,” he said. “When people come back and realize they are now at the receiving end, they will get wary of what they share.”

However, this would not spell the end of file sharing, he said.

“People are going to start running private encrypted networks that the RIAA can’t access. The future of file sharing depends on the users, not the file sharing networks,” he said.

Vijayakumar’s opinions on the subject were echoed by students.

“It’s a lost cause,” Arren Mund, senior in computer science, said. “[They might stop sharing] temporarily, but not in the long run because people want free stuff.”

Mund hinted at alternatives to the file sharing networks.

“There are alternatives … [through] newsgroups, you can get anything you’ll ever want. Pay $15 a month and you can download as much as you [like].”

Mund said he understands there are dangers in file sharing.

“I don’t share anything because you can get caught, ” he said. “I don’t understand why people share stuff.”