They're at it again.

The Recording Industry Association of America announced Wednesday that it has sent a second batch of pre-litigation settlement letters to students at 23 colleges.

Although the University of Michigan didn't receive any of the 405 letters sent this month, it has received notices that students will receive pre-litigation letters in the future, said Jack Bernard, the University's assistant general counsel.

The letters - part of the RIAA's recent crackdown on illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing - give students accused of copyright infringement an opportunity to settle with record companies before a lawsuit is filed against them.

On March 3, the University began receiving notices, which Bernard said list the IP addresses of computers that the RIAA says have been involved in illegally sharing music. Several others followed in the next few days. The RIAA has now pointed out more than a dozen IP addresses at the University that allegedly shared music illegally.

Bernard said he doesn't know why the RIAA hasn't yet sent the University any pre-litigation settlement letters. The organization refused to give Bernard any information about the letters, he said.

RIAA spokeswoman Jenni Engebretsen said yesterday that she couldn't comment on any notices the University has received, but she said the RIAA contacts universities before sending pre-litigation letters. The RIAA asks the University to preserve its records that show who owned the IP addresses, she said.

After Spring Break, the University told students who owned the computers implicated in the notices that the RIAA intended to issue the University pre-litigation letters to their IP addresses.

After the RIAA sends letters to the University and the University forwards them to students, offenders have 20 days to respond.

If a student fails to reply, the RIAA issues a subpoena to the University asking for the student's name. The record company alleging copyright infringement then files a lawsuit.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison received 16 pre-litigation letters on Wednesday.

Brian Rust, the communications manager for the school's Division of Information Technology, said the university had received notices two weeks before. The notices said that the University of Wisconsin would receive settlement letters within a week.

The University of Wisconsin doesn't pass along any type of notice to students. The 16 individuals on the Madison campus who will be sued for copyright infringement won't be given a chance to settle with record companies before the RIAA subpoenas their names.

The University of Wisconsin will not pass along notices because there is no proof of illegal activity, Rust said.

"It's not something the university wants to be a party to," he said.

Rust said he saw the pre-litigation letters. The letters don't contain specific monetary figures, he said. Instead, they direct students to a website.

Bernard said he has forwarded the notices to accused students. Only Bernard and one other staff member know the names of all the students.

Alhough some students haven't responded to Bernard's announcement, he said most told him that they are surprised by the allegations. Bernard has also spoken to some students' parents and attorneys.

"Most students are pretty upset," Bernard said.

Steven Marks, the RIAA's executive vice president and general counsel, said in a written statement Wednesday that he was pleased with university responses to the letters.

"We're encouraged by the response of universities that are forwarding the pre-litigation settlement letters to students," he said. "Not every student will take advantage of this opportunity, but these that do get the benefit of a discounted settlement and no public mark on their record."

Bernard said the University makes an effort to quickly notify students of their infractions.

"We want to help members of our community," he said.

He said the University wants to give each student as much time as possible to process the information and make a decision.

The University of California system received notices on March 2 - one day before the University of Michigan received its notices. But while the University of Michigan is still waiting for settlement letters, the University of California campuses at Berkeley, Los Angeles and Santa Cruz received 57 pre-litigation letters on Wednesday.

Jennifer Ward, a spokeswoman for the University of California system, said the campuses didn't pass the letters along to students.

"At the time we didn't have a process for passing the letters on," she said.

The University of California adopted a policy to forward notices after the campuses received their first letters.