Medary.com

The Recording Industry Association of America is demanding that 50 students at Ohio University pay $3,000 each to the industry group to avoid being sued for illegal downloading.

A letter to one Ohio University student told her that she distributed 787 audio files, putting her total minimum potential liability at more than $590,000. The minimum damages under the law is $750 for each copyright recording that had been shared, the letter said.

This is a big reason I simply don't buy music any more.  I don't care to support an industry that uses strongarm tactics, even when the shakedown is in the form of a letter from a lawyer.  The current intellectual properties legal system is broken.  Extracting thousands of dollars from college students won't fix it.