RIAA targets students again

Seemingly unhampered by the embarrassments heaped upon its litigation campaign elsewhere, the RIAA has sent 400 letters to students (or the "soft underbelly of legal targets", as lawyers call them) at 21 universities in the US. More than in sorrow, of course, than anger (and more in the attempt to make some ready cash real easy than in sorrow):

"Without question, this new enforcement initiative has invigorated a meaningful conversation on college campuses about music theft, its consequences and the numerous ways to enjoy legal music," said Steven Marks, executive vp and general counsel for the RIAA. "The question we ask of students is this: With high-quality legal music options available for free or deeply discounted, why take the twin risks of exposing your computer to viruses or spyware by downloading from an illegal site or exposing yourself to a costly lawsuit?"

I dunno... perhaps the students have also downloaded a free virus checker and spyware cleaner as well? Or maybe avoiding official RIAA member products which have a habit of breaking computers and installing malware on machines - I mean, why take that risk?

We would love to be flies on the way for those invogourated meaningful conversations about the numerous ways to enjoy legal music taking place on campuses all across America - they sound fascinating and not, in any way, the sort of chatter that only takes place in the minds of the RIAA lawyers. ("I'll bet there's someone in Michigan right now downloading a thirty-second sample of a track which he can play three times before it ceases to play any more..."

What is puzzling, though, is that the RIAA are keen for kids to discover music options "for free" - wasn't the origin of the litigation campaign a fear that if people download music for free, they'll cease to associate music with having any sort of value in the future?