The Empire Strikes Back

The RIAA has issued the ninth wave of pre-litigation letters to 19 colleges and universities. This brings the current total of pre-litigation letters that the RIAA has sent to 3,740, with 411 from this latest offensive and 13 specifically at the University of Georgia. According to the RIAA's official press release, these pre-litigation letters are a part of "the legal process [that] gives students the opportunity to resolve copyright infringement claims (www.p2plawsuits.com) against them at a discounted rate before a formal lawsuit is filed. Each pre-litigation settlement letter informs the school of a forthcoming copyright infringement suit against one of its students or personnel. The letter requests that university administrators forward the letter to the appropriate network user to allow the individuals the opportunity to promptly resolve the matter and avoid a lawsuit."

In the wake of Capitol v. Thomas (formerly "Virgin v. Thomas"), are these forms of attack on illegal downloading effective measures? Any thoughts?