Campus networks

In the latest stage of their campaign, the two industry bodies have written to 40 universities in 25 states highlighting what they called "piracy problems" on their computer networks.

Both the RIAA and the MPAA acknowledged that the colleges have made efforts to curb illegal file-sharing on local area networks (Lans), but said more action was needed.

"Campus Lan piracy is not new, yet the problem has taken on new urgency," said RIAA President Cary Sherman.

"As we prioritise our focus on campus Lan piracy in the coming year, we hope administrators will take this opportunity to fully evaluate their systems and take action to stop theft by all means."

The RIAA and the MPAA urged universities to consider the use of filtering technologies to stop students illegally sharing music and movies.

This is not the first time that campus networks have been in the crosshairs.

In April 2003, the RIAA mounted legal action against the student operators of four campus networks at three schools.

Since then, it says universities have taken down at least a dozen campus servers where illegal file-sharing was prevalent.

In November, a file-swapping superfast network popular with US students closed down following repeated legal pressure from the entertainment industry.

The i2Hub network took advantage of the Internet2 research network which connects some 207 US universities.