Ohio University has entered the 21st century. We are no longer the No. 2 party school in the nation, but, apparently, we can pirate music like no other. We should be proud because 50 of our students received one of the 805 letters the RIAA has sent out. Our students have moved up in life; we are no longer just another party school. We are savvy enough to use computers and download music, although not smart enough not to get caught. If you meet one of these heroic students, pat him or her on the back and give thanks to him or her for making Ohio University known for more than chugging Natty Light.

In all seriousness, the conduct of Ohio University and most of the other universities that have received these letters sickens me. The university has a responsibility to protect its students. That is the theory behind punishing students for drinking isn’t it? But instead of making any attempt at all to protect its students from frivolous lawsuits, the powers that be decided to throw us to the wolves and forward its students’ prelitigation letters.

To clarify, the letters are not actual lawsuits. The letter gives the student the choice of either paying a fine or being sued, which is tantamount to extortion, and our university is consenting to it.

The University of Nebraska and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have both refused to submit their students’ names. The University of Nebraska has gone a step further. An article published at www.ZDnet.com, a leading business Web site, discusses how the University of Nebraska is charging the RIAA $11 for each letter it receives about one of its students. The university’s CIO asked, “Are we an agent of the RIAA?” to respond to why the university would not identify students. Wouldn’t it be nice if Ohio University had made a similar attempt to protect its students from the wrath of the RIAA by refusing to forward these letters?

My other concern is about how the university is dealing with the potential lawsuits. Students face punishment by University Judiciaries in addition to the RIAA fines. This is a form of double jeopardy. When students are caught drinking in the dorms by an RA, they are sent to University Judiciaries and punished.

Students who are sent letters by the RIAA are not only sent to Judiciaries; they also must pay the fine to the RIAA. The punishment does not fit the crime. Which is more dangerous? Drinking can cause actual physical harm. Downloading a song really does no direct harm to anyone. Paying $3,000 and having to go to University Judiciaries is much worse than taking an alcohol education class to me.

By forwarding the letters and sending students to judiciaries, OU is punishing its students more for downloading a song than underage drinking. Being that the university has made such a big deal about underage drinking in recent years, I think it’s hypocritical of it to punish students even more for downloading a song.

That both residents of a room to which a letter was sent face legal consequences is another appalling consequence of these potential lawsuits. It is hardly fair for the roommate of a student who has been caught by the RIAA to be punished as well. These unfortunate students are being penalized for doing nothing wrong at all. It is as if they are guilty merely by association.

In my two years of living in the dorms I knew many people who downloaded music regularly. I sympathize with the students who were caught downloading files, and I wish the university would have attempted to protect them from these lawsuits. The way these universities have bent to the whim of the RIAA disgusts me. Ohio University might not have the power to stop these lawsuits, but it can hinder them.