Four hundred college students at 13 different universities received pre-lawsuit letters from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) last Wednesday.

None of the letters were sent to Penn State students, though the RIAA has plans to send out about 400 letters every month, and any student caught file sharing at any university could be targeted, RIAA President Cary Sherman said.

The letters inform the recipients they have been identified as illegal file-sharers and offer them a chance to settle financially out of court, Steven Marks, the trade group's general council and executive vice president, said.

"In the three years since we first filed suit against a university network user, we have sued about 1,000 students," Marks said. "Under this new program, we will initiate legal action against a similar number of students in just three months."

Penn State spokeswoman Jill Shockey said the university's agreement with Napster to provide free and legal access music has helped Penn State students avoid legal action from the music industry.

"Penn State was the first university in the country to provide a free service," Shockey said. "Penn State has been far more in compliance with the law longer than most colleges and universities in the country."

Sherman said the decision to increase legal action was partially based on the failure of intellectual property law education to solve the problem.

"We've done surveys and focus groups, and we've found that college students are more likely to change behavior if they are at risk of personal consequences than because something is illegal or might hurt other people," Sherman said.

A settlement allows students to avoid a lawsuit filed on public record and a trial, which could theoretically result in a student paying from $750 to $150,000 for each song downloaded illegally, Marks said.

He said the RIAA is not divulging the average settlement amount, but that it was a substantial discount from a settlement one can expect to pay if the case is filed in federal court.

Some students told The Daily Collegian they're still downloading large amounts of music illegally, but refused to give their names, citing the risk of getting caught.

The RIAA's new efforts will not focus only on individuals who share mass quantities of illegal files, Sherman said.

"There is no minimum amount of files," Sherman said. "While we targeted more egregious users when we first filed lawsuits three years ago, since then everyone should be aware of what is legal and not legal. Therefore, any user can be the subject of a lawsuit."

The well-publicized case of Robert Santangelo, a 16-year-old boy from White Plains, N.Y., who was sued by five record companies, is one of many that may put a damper on illegal downloading.

"I don't think the primary focus is the money they'll recover," said Matt Jackson, Penn State associate professor and head of telecommunications. "The hope is that the amount of publicity will cause people to reduce the amount of file-sharing."

Amanda Slade (senior-hotel, restaurant and institutional management) said she used to download music illegally but has since decided against it.

"When I was younger, I used to download music quite frequently," Slade said. "It was the thing to do."

She said she doesn't do it anymore for a few reasons -- the risk of getting caught is one of them.

"Nobody wants to get sued," she said.

The RIAA currently catches those who share files illegally by logging in to popular person-to-person file sharing programs and looking to see who is trading songs, Marks said. Once it identifies someone to sue, the RIAA determines the user's IP address and obtains a subpoena to get his or her name and mailing address.

Sherman hopes eventually, lawsuits like these will no longer be necessary.

"We hope everyone realizes that this is a means to an end," Sherman said. "The end is a vibrant, legal digital marketplace that offers students and other consumers exciting new ways to enjoy music."