UT student pays $3,000 to settle Internet music sharing

UT student pays $3,000 to settle Internet music sharing

March 21, 2007

KNOXVILLE (WATE/AP) -- A University of Tennessee student decided to pay $3,000 for downloading music, rather than face a lawsuit.

Sophomore Chelsea Conn, 19, from Murfreesboro says she had pulled 1,310 tunes from the Internet and says the Recording Industry Association of America could have sued her for over $1 million.

Conn is one of 28 UT students facing suit over music downloading. They're part of a wave of 400 students who received settlement letters sent to universities nationwide.

"I understand what I did. It's just their tactics are really backhanded...how they get students, how they target students. And they know we can't do anything about it," Conn says.

The RIAA has said it will continue to send out roughly 400 settlement letters each month to universities.

Conn says most of her friends who got caught are taking the settlement too.

For those students who are still downloading music illegally, Conn has a piece of advice, "It's not just a joke. It's not a scam. It's for real."

Almost 15,000 students at 25 universities have been identified by the RIAA for downloading, nearly triple the number for the previous school year.

The University of Tennessee ranks among the top five.

6 News Reporter Amelia Daniels contributed to this report. Some portions of this report copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.