Why was illegal downloading allowed for so long?

There's no free lunch.

In fact, those lunches that appear to be free can wind up being the most expensive.

A number of University of Nebraska-Lincoln students are learning that lesson the hard way, and at a rate that makes UNL's tuition look like a bargain.

Some 61 computer users at the University received letters earlier this year from the Recording Industry Association of America accusing them of downloading music illegally, and offering them settlements to avoid further prosecution.

And, it's no idle threat. The typical settlement is $3,000, according to Tom Keefe of Student Legal Services at UNL, and the offer jumps to $4,000 if the first one isn't accepted within 20 days.

While one could argue that the university should have had better controls in place to start with, UNL isn't accepting complete blame. In fact, it recently billed the RIAA $150 for the expense of looking up the offending IP addresses and connecting them to specific users.

Still, the school began a public relations campaign last fall, warning students the practice was illegal and could lead to university disciplinary action.

The whole situation reminds us of the early days of satellite television, when buyers could receive a plethora of programming just by tuning in.

It was amusing to watch many of these early-adapters become incensed when the content providers begin scrambling their signals, and actually expected to be paid for their products.

As technologically savvy as today's student are, it's remarkable so many of them would continue illegal downloads under the mistaken impression their identities couldn't be traced.

It's even more amazing that the institutions that made it possible allowed it to go on for so long.