RIAA mugs College Kid's life savings

June 9— On April 3, 19-year-old Jesse Jordan received a call that changed his life.

The freshman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., learned he was being sued by one of the most powerful trade groups in the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America.

Jordan, an information technology major, created ChewPlastic.com, the second most popular search directory on the RPI campus.

"You go to the site, you type in a search term, and it finds files on the network," Jordan said. Jordan compares his site to Google, the popular Internet search engine.

But the RIAA likens Jordan's site to Napster, the now defunct song-swap service that revolutionized the distribution of music.

"The service was no different than Napster," said Amy Weiss, senior vice president of communications for the RIAA. "With one click of a mouse, you can get music, you can get anything you wanted."

"The people who run these Napster networks know full well what they are doing: Operating a sophisticated network designed to enable widespread music thievery," RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a statement issued April 3.

"The lawsuits we've filed represent an appropriate step given the seriousness of the offense," Sherman added.

"Basically, Napster set out to create its own network specifically for music. What I did was ran a search engine on a campus network [where] the network already existed," Jordan said.

But Jordan did agree to pony up $12,000, his entire savings account, to the RIAA. Jordan and his father, Andy Jordan, felt the settlement was their best option.

"They agreed to allow Jesse to deny their allegations. They agreed to dismiss the case and all allegations against him," the father said. "Basically they agreed that he didn't do anything wrong, but [they're] taking his 12 grand."

Weiss says the RIAA wanted to send a deterrent message others who had similar services up on their college campuses. "Nobody is above the law," she said. "And that is the important thing to remember here."

Jordan knew students were sharing files on his network: pictures, PowerPoint presentations, physics notes, anime, and music. But he refutes the RIAA's claim he "hijacked an academic network" and "installed an emporium for music trading."

"We don't think it's ridiculous to call someone a thief who is, in fact, stealing music. And that's exactly what his system did," said Weiss.

Andy Jordan believes that the RIAA's intimidating tactics will undoubtedly hurt the music industry by alienating music buyers. An avid music fan for more than 40 years, he shudders at the impact this will have on the industry's most fervent fans.

"I don't know how strongly the music companies — the people who really run the music companies — I don't know if they realize what the impact of this misguided attempt at intimidation is going to be," Andy said.

While Andy Jordan questions the motives and actions of the RIAA, he basks in pride at his son's steadfast resolve.

"He has stood up to the schoolyard bullies that are pulling this and he's said, 'You are not going to make me say something that's not true,' " the father said.

ChewPlastic.com is asking for donations to help recover the $12,000 settlement. As of June 6, the site has collected more than $1,700.

What's fascinating about this is that Microsoft's Windows XP will allow me to do the exact same thing on a local area network with unprotected storage -- query for a list of music files on the entire network. I find it MOST fascinating that the RIAA did not attempt to take Bill Gates' life savings, or that of Microsoft's shareholders (for the record, I am one).

You know, folks, if this is a matter of law of the Jungle, all G.E. has to do is say "Well, you LOOKED at me wrong... we'll sue you for air" and you'll have no choice but to settle. I'm all for corporate rights, but this has gotten a little out of hand when Justice is no longer blind.

I hope that the record industry continues to bury itself in a public relations disaster. I am so tired of their prefab teen sensations and yarling depression rock clones of something that was truly creative in the early 90s. As long as they keep fighting the new business model, we are that much closer to actually giving bands a chance at making a living from their music. I think record companies are the true problem for artists, not downloaders.

Well he could have gone through with a trial but it would have cost even more, and probably wouldn't have won back his legal costs. Sooner or later riaa is going to hit on someone in a similar situation who has some serious money to burn fighting the rap and in general making a big public stink, and is going to get stung back.

Just a Quick Question:

How does RIAA sue me for "piracy" if I HAVE both Vinyl LP and Audio Tape versions of the music, both legally acquired.
Oh, Yeah, and a half-ton of CD's, too.

Seems to me, I have already paid at least TWICE for the same album, tape or CD. ( mostly oldies, 60's thru 80's stuff.)
Now, they want me to pay a 3rd time.

Sorry, I've already bought the music, and have it in my possession.

Seems to me, I can produce or acquire copies for my own personal use if I want to, and if that means a clean, digitally recorded copy downloaded over the net, that's fine by me.
Come and get me, RIAA.
I don't think You have a leg to stand on.

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