Students who have lost thousands of dollars in settlements with the Record Industry Associate of America are hoping to recoup their losses by suing the founder of i2hub – the program that enabled them to illegally download coprighted music and media.
The Student Legal Services Office at the University of Massachusetts and 42 program users at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are threatening to sue i2hub creator Wayne Chang if he doesn’t pay a settlement to students in compensation for their settlements with the RIAA.
The SLSO represents 75 “John Doe” students in their copyright infringement lawsuits brought by the RIAA for the alleged download of media files.
Some of the students named by the RIAA used file sharing software i2hub and allege they were under the impression that i2hub worked as a legal software for any download, including music files.
“i2hub didn’t even advertise as a music-sharing software. It was advertised as safe file-sharing software and there were disclaimers that the software did not condone copyright infringement. It was the students’ choice to use i2hub as they did,” said Charles Baker, Wayne Chang’s attorney.
In addition, to gain access to the i2hub software, each student signed an “end user license agreement” that warned students that once the software was downloaded, the exact contents of what was shared would be at the discretion of the students since i2hub neither advocated nor encouraged copyright infringement.
“The [end user license agreement] stated throughout the document forbidding copyright infringement and also limited our liability,” Chang said.
“It is contractually binding, and if the students did not wish to agree, they could click ‘No’ when asked to accept and the software would not install. This practice has been the staple of the software industry and I don’t see it changing any time soon, especially not for this case. It seems like the students need to stop trying to redirect blame elsewhere.”
However, under Massachusetts General Law, if students can show they were victims to unfair or deceptive acts or circumstances from i2hub, students may be awarded anywhere from two to three times the damages they received themselves, plus attorney expenses.
SLSO officials alleged that i2hub portrayed its services as an extension of UMass-Amherst and thus legal.
“This is not a case of the students trying to escape responsibility for their actions,” SLSO attorney Charles Dimare said. “The students will still have to deal with their lawsuits from the RIAA. However, we feel that if students been better informed about the way i2hub actually runs, they might not have downloaded music files as they did.”
Who is liable for the illegal distribution of copyrighted media files, the user or the software company, remains a contentious issue.
In past court cases, such as MGM v. Grokster, peer-to-peer sharing software have beat media companies in court because it is up to users’ discretion to share copyrighted materials.
Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Fred Von Lohmann said the end user license agreement, or EULA, is revoked when a website loses its case in court because the site used deceitful means to attract users.
“I’m not exactly sure how Massachusetts law protects the rights of consumers in regards to copyright infringement lawsuits associated with peer-to-peer sharing software, however should the third party be found responsible, the EULA that they signed can be revoked since many judges and jurors know that not many people bother reading the EULAs,” Lohmann said. “Obviously if you’ve been led to believe that a particular software is safe, you’re not going to call up the company and argue with them over one EULA line.”
Copyright infringement lawsuits based on online downloading are unusual because ignorance to the illegality is not a defense, Lohmann explained.
“The true responsibility for these problems rests at the feet of the RIAA,” said Rebecca Jeschke, Electronic Frontier Foundation media coordinator.
“They only aggravate downloading situations with their lawsuits because although many students are caught for downloading music, thousands more of the people sitting next to them get away with it everyday.”
The SLSO originally asked the i2hub Organization Inc. and its president Wayne Chang for a settlement of $157,500 to be awarded to the 42 original students. Whether that number will increase depends on the number of further complaints lodged against i2hub.
The RIAA refused to comment.