Downloads In A Snap; Lawsuit, Too

(CBS/AP)  Ultra-fast Internet2 isn't available to the general public. But the recording industry is already testing its legal legs by filing suit Wednesday against hundreds of college students accused of illegally distributing music and movies across Internet2.

The super-fast computer network connecting leading universities for researching the next generation of the Internet, industry officials said Tuesday.

But its an unregulated and uncharted territory, the Recording Industry Association of America told CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes.

"Right now the Internet2 is a zone of lawlessness when it comes to theft of music and movies and that just can't be allowed to continue," said RIAA president Cary Sherman.

The Washington-based RIAA, the trade group for the largest labels, said it will file federal copyright lawsuits Wednesday against 405 students at 18 colleges with access to the speedy network.

Researchers at Internet2 once demonstrated they can download a DVD-quality copy of the popular movie "The Matrix" in 30 seconds over their network, a feat they said would take roughly 25 hours over the Internet. A song can be downloaded in a second or two.

Internet2 is used by several million university students, researchers and professionals around the world but is generally inaccessible to the public.

It wasn't intended to be used to share copyrighted movies and music but its incredible speed makes it ideal for that use — or abuse, says CBS News Technology Analyst Larry Magid.

"We don't condone or support illegal file-sharing," said Internet2's chief executive, Doug Van Houweling. "We've always understood that just like there is a lot of file-sharing going on on the public Internet, there's also some file-sharing going on on Internet2."

The recording industry said some students were illegally sharing across Internet2 as many as 13,600 music files — far more than most Internet users - and that the average number of songs offered illegally by the students was 2,300 each. It said it found evidence of more illegal file sharing at 140 more schools in 41 states and sent warning letters to university presidents.

Hughes spoke with professor Chris Kyriakakis of the University of Southern California School of Engineering, who studies "I2" and observes its use. Did he expect that access to an ultra-high speed connection could be problematic for his peers?

"Yes it's been problem for some time," he said. Students hook up their personal computers to the network in order to access pirated music and share movies, despite several schools' blocks on such filesharing. "I think and they try to find ways around it so it's a constant battle."

The Motion Picture Association of America also was expected to file federal copyright lawsuits Wednesday against college students with access to Internet2.

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