When students want to listen to the latest hit, what do they do? They might share music files or borrow a CD from a friend. Or, they might opt for a simple and quick download, a common process that puts music at our finger tips.

Although students know pretty well that downloading music is copyright infringement, they still don’t seem to be scared. They continue to download music for free through file-sharing programs such as Ares, LimeWire, Kazaa, and BitTorrent.

If someone raises an eyebrow at them, their response is ubiquitous, “It happens everywhere. Everyone does it.”

U.S. Representative Ric Keller introduced the Curb Illegal Downloading on College Campuses Act in 2007, a new legislation that aims to curb digital piracy, including the downloading of music and movies on college campuses. The anti-piracy pilot program will encourage students to put an end to digital piracy.

According to Keller, illegal college downloading consumes a large volume of education-related bandwidth on computer networks. It also makes campus computers susceptible to harmful viruses. Keller also condemns the act of stealing billions of dollars in intellectual property at the cost of hard-working people.

Recently, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) accused about 400 students from 13 universities for indulging in this wrongful act. The RIAA sent letters to the students, reiterating that each illegally shared song attracts a minimum fine of $750.

The Association plans on sending about 400 letters to universities every month. RIAA spokeswoman Jenni Engebretsen said that the mass mailing exercise was necessary “because the problem is so acute in the university community.”

If students don’t cough up the settlement amount within 20 days, the RIAA will to take court action against offenders. Surprisingly, no students have been sued, yet. Accused students usually opt to pay the settlement sum, which is around $4,000, rather than paying $750 per song. In any case, that’s a huge amount--way more than what they would’ve paid at their local record store.

This money does not go to recording artists or the recording company; it goes to RIAA’s anti-piracy treasury.

Universities have initiated a number of ways to increase student awareness about the risks involved in illegal file-sharing. While the University of Florida uses a program called Icarus to see which students are engaged in illegal downloads, other colleges use methods such as mass mailings, dorm announcements, and peer-to-peer traffic monitoring. Some schools also suggest introducing a nationwide fee for music downloads.