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Record studios sue students over their music-sharing sites

A music industry group sued the operators of what it called "Napster-like" Internet sites run on college campuses that distribute copyrighted songs.

The Recording Industry Association of America said the systems, which reside on internal campus networks, were operated by two students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and one each at Princeton University and Michigan Technological University.

"These systems are best described as local-area Napster networks," said Cary Sherman, RIAA president, in a statement. A court ruled Napster Inc "was illegal and shut it down. These systems are just as illegal and operate in just the same manner."

Record companies and some artists say online music swapping, popularized by now-defunct Napster, costs them millions of dollars in lost sales a year. Napster's music sharing service was forced to shut down in July 2001 after a court ruled it violated record company copyrights.

A music-swapping site at Princeton run by student Daniel Peng, named in an RIAA complaint filed in federal court in New York, was removed today after the RIAA notified the school that it was filing suit, said Lauren Robinson-Brown, a spokeswoman for the college.

"The student voluntarily removed the site," said Robinson-Brown.

The RIAA routinely files complaints with the school about potential copyright infringement and didn't complain about Peng's site before filing the suit, said Robinson-Brown. Peng couldn't be reached for comment.

Aaron Sherman, a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic named in another RIAA complaint, said he had no comment. Jesse Jordan, another Rensselaer student named in a complaint, couldn't be reached.

A message left on voicemail at the Troy, New York, school's public affairs office after hours wasn't returned.

Joseph Nievelt, a student at Michigan Technological named in a complaint, didn't return a message left at his home.

Marcia Goodrich, a spokeswoman at the Houghton, Michigan, school didn't respond to a message left on voicemail after hours.
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