Thanks to the aggressive legal tactics of the Recording Industry Association of America, in addition to worrying about finals, some college students over the past to weeks have also had to worry about their criminal records. Campuses across the nation saw huge spikes in subpoenas delivered by the organization, including here at the University. This is the latest development in a long history of unfair targeting of college students, a practice that is unfair and only works to make a quick buck rather than facilitating any meaningful legal decision.

Students who illegally download files onto their computers are often discovered by the RIAA, which then notifies their University. When this piracy is done on University property, such as in dorms, violators can be tracked by their IP addresses. It is then the responsibility of the University to notify the students that they can either take the RIAA to court or settle outside of it.

While the average out-of-court settlement of roughly $3,000-$4,000 is hardly a fate students would relish, it's a much more appealing option than taking the organization to court, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's no surprise, then, that students are known for taking settlement options, a fact the RIAA is well aware of and uses to its advantage.

Not that the organization will ever admit that. The official story is that students are notorious file-sharers. On the RIAA website, the organization admits to purposely targeting students, claiming that according to "some recent surveys" slightly more than half of college students participate in illegal downloading.

While file-sharing is hardly rare on college campuses, there's evidence to suggest that this practice isn't quite the epidemic the RIAA claims it is. The Motion Picture Association of America, which strives to protect intellectual property rights in much the same way the RIAA does, recently admitted to overestimating the amount of money they lost due to college piracy by almost 30 percent. If these piracy estimates were so far off, the legitimacy of ones the RIAA uses as justification for its actions should certainly be called into question. The accuracy of these numbers is important - statistical errors like the MPAA's indicate that students aren't necessary the problem, just an easy mark.

Unfair targeting isn't the only beef students should have with the RIAA. It is no coincidence that the number of lawsuits against file-sharers increases dramatically at the end of each semester. The organization steps up its dubious prosecution of these offenses during exam time because it knows that students are less likely to go to court over the matter when they have to worry about finals, too. With out-of-court settlements netting the RIAA several thousand dollars, it's clear that the organization is more focused on profit than bringing about a case that could change policy.

Rules regarding file-sharing undoubtedly need to be set. If the RIAA is serious making this happen, it should pursue an opponent with the time and resources to actually go to court. The current strategy may be effective at exploiting students, but it does little to move toward real progress.