Get rich quick by extorting university student pirates!

In what must surely be a sign that schools and universities are under-funded, a network security dude at the University of Georgia has just been arrested for shaking down multiple file-downloading students.

Two weeks ago he approached a female student and said he could make the "situation go away in exchange for money" -- he was promising to keep the data private, rather than forward it to the university administrators. In this case, the student didn't have any money and went straight to a university official to report the nefarious network nerd. He was promptly arrested by the police -- job done! (If anyone's wondering, this is the best way to get out of blackmail situations... don't give in to their demands! Don't deal with terrorists! Never eat yellow snow!)

There's no hint of how much money the guy was trying to extract from the girl, nor any hint of whether he tried to obtain other forms of 'payment' instead. But still... maybe it's not the RIAA or MPAA that you should be most worried about, students!

[via CNET]

Tags: coercion, criminal, extortion, network, piracy, students, university