U Wash Won't Cite Students on Swapping

The University of Washington has become the second Pacific Northwest school to refuse to pass along warning letters from the RIAA to students whose IP addresses were used for illegal downloading. The RIAA considers students liable for any swapping connected with their IP addresses, but the UW, along with the University of Oregon, argues that there's no way to know who was using a computer at a given time.

The RIAA sent 396 letters to administrators at 22 universities in December, offering offending students the option of settling with a "convenient" monthly payment plan or risking an expensive lawsuit. A UW spokesman said further investigation would be required to verify that those students were at fault before passing on the letters. (More music downloads stories.)