WASHINGTON - College students who faced lawsuits for illegally sharing large music collections over campus computer networks increasingly risk being unplugged from the Internet or even suspended over lesser complaints by the recording industry.

In a nationwide crackdown, the music industry is sending thousands more copyright complaints to universities this school year than last. In some cases, students are targeted for allegedly sharing a single mp3 file online.

A few schools - Ohio University and Purdue University are at the top of the list - already have received more than 1,000 complaints accusing individual students since last fall. For students who are caught, punishments can vary from e-mail warnings to semester-long suspensions from classes.

Ohio University said students caught twice sharing music online would face the same disciplinary sanctions as classmates accused of violence or cheating: suspension, probation or an assignment to write a homework paper on the subject. Ohio said no student ever has been caught twice.

The trade group for the largest music labels, the Recording Industry Association of America, identified at the request of the Associated Press the 25 universities to which it has sent the most copyright complaints so far this school year.

Among them is North Dakota State University, at No. 19, with 360 complaints.

The trade group, which has long pressured schools to act more aggressively, said software tools are improving to trace illegal file-sharing on campuses.

"We are taking advantage of that technology to make universities aware of the problem on their campuses," RIAA President Cary Sherman said. "They need to be sending a message to their students about how to live a lawful life."

The top five schools are Ohio, Purdue, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Tennessee and the University of South Carolina. The RIAA complained about almost 15,000 students at the 25 universities, nearly triple the number for the previous school year.

"They're trying to make a statement," said Randall Hall, who polices computers at Michigan State University, seventh on the list with 753 complaints. Michigan State received 432 such complaints in December alone, when students attended classes for only half the month.