RIAA

[Analogman]

i think it is ridiculous to suspend a kid from college for downloading music, i don't care how much he or she does it.

 

i could think of worse things to do in my free time.

 

 

Anything that makes a college look bad in the press is going to be dealt with harshly by those who run the college.

[MattZ]

Why is it ridiculous to suspend college students for using university infrastructure to break the law?

 

I'll use a tortured analogy that I dont really agree with to play devil's advocate: Don't college students use university infrastructure (fraternity parties) to break the law (drink underage)?

 

Sure, fraternities aren't quite university infrastructure, but they are part of the university experience; fraternities are governed by the universities at which they operate. Universities monitor parties on occasion, but they certainly don't do it with any sort of regularity. And underage drinking goes on at parties all the time.

 

If colleges want to resort to a moral argument about their students breaking the law by downloading music, it seems a bit disingenuous to me. I think they just don't want to get sued.

[cryptique]

Your argument assumes that students don't get disciplined/suspended for underage drinking. They do.

 

Sure, they usually don't get caught, but when they do, there are consequences.

[Ludwig Von Drake]

My beef with this lies with the fact that you have state-funded universities doing stuff for a non-state commercial company.

[cryptique]

My beef with this lies with the fact that you have state-funded universities doing stuff for a non-state commercial company.

That's not quite what's happening. The non-state commercial company (which is actually a trade association) is merely filing complaints with the state-funded universities. The universities are then taking whatever actions they deem to be appropriate.

 

Universities that are afraid of legal action are bowing to that pressure and trying to put a stop to student downloading -- and when they're state universities, it's easy to argue that this is a prudent step to protect taxpayers from the costs of litigation.

 

Simply put, the RIAA is trying to scare the universities into doing their dirty work for them. The universities probably don't much care about the students getting into trouble with the RIAA, but they're justifiably terrified of being named in any lawsuits, so they play along.

[caliber66]

My beef with this lies with the fact that you have state-funded universities doing stuff for a non-state commercial company.

Yes, a non-state commercial entity has alerted the universities to the fact that their students are using capabilities provided to them by the university to steal from the commercial entity. The students, not the RIAA, have put the university in a difficult situation. Don't blame the RIAA for looking after its own interests, or the university for doing the same.

 

If I'm using university equipment to do something that may get the university sued, you're going to fault the university for doing what it can to make me stop?

[MattZ]

Your argument assumes that students don't get disciplined/suspended for underage drinking. They do.

Sure, they usually don't get caught, but when they do, there are consequences.

 

I suppose my point was that if universities were really so worried about students doing illegal things, then they would actually be monitoring things like fraternity parties much more often than they do. Students occasionally get caught (and yes, there are consequences), but I would bet there is underage drinking at virtually every fraternity party. I was never at a party in college where anyone was worried that the university officials were going to bust in.

 

I don't blame the universities for doing this, nor do I blame the RIAA for trying to get other people to do their dirty work for them (don't we all??), my main point was that I don't buy the moral argument about how colleges are cracking down on the illegal activities of the students. If colleges really cared about that, they would do more to stop underage drinking. And they don't. This is all about universities preventing lawsuits -- totally understandable -- but I am just calling the spade a spade. (Not that you weren't...)

[Analogman]

RIAA Announces New Campus Lawsuit Strategy

February 28, 2007

Thomas Mennecke

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First there was Napster. The RIAA successfully litigated this once grand P2P network into oblivion. Although this MP3-perfect community was dismantled, the file-sharing community moved onto Gnutella, FastTrack, AudioGalaxy and eDonkey2000. As P2P networks became more decentralized, dismantling networks no longer became a viable option. From the RIAA's perspective, filing lawsuits against individuals was the only solution.

 

That was back in August of 2003. Almost four years later, the file-sharing population has continued to grow, while CD sales continue to fall. Digital music sales have grown since their introduction, yet have failed to make up for the loss in sales. As was the case during the glory days of Napster, college and university campuses remain one of the strongholds of free file-sharing, as students have grown tired of DRM (Digital Rights Management) encumbered alternatives offered by the music industry.

 

In a press conference call hosted today, RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol, President Cary Sherman, and General Counsel and Executive Vice President Steven Marks announced a new anti-piracy initiative which is aimed primarily at student downloaders, but will be made available to everyone. What is this new initiative?

 

Many people have become familiar with the mechanics of the RIAA lawsuit engine. One of the agents of the RIAA, such as Media Sentry, downloads a file from an unsuspecting file-sharer. A screenshot is made of the individual's shared directory, or several files are downloaded to ensure a viable case. The individual's IP address is then obtained. The RIAA then subpoenas the file-sharer's ISP requesting the personal information associated with that IP address when the alleged upload occurred. The RIAA then informs the unsuspecting file-sharer of an impending lawsuit, but also gives the option to settle. A typical settlement costs between $3,000 and $5,000 US.

 

Today's press conference call started with introductions from Mitch Bainwol and Cary Sherman, who both elaborated on how piracy is causing exorbitant financial losses, how campus piracy is resulting in job layoffs, and listed all these great alternatives that college students should be using (but for some reason aren't). Then Steven Marks got to the real meat and bones of the conference call, and things got really exciting.

 

The new RIAA plan implements a device called a "pre-lawsuit letter". The plan is currently underway, as the RIAA has already sent 400 of these letters to various college campuses. Basically, the letter is sent to the college or university, and is then forwarded to the student. Instead of threatening a lawsuit outrightly, within 20 days the student has the option to settle at a "discount". The RIAA would not elaborate on how much this discount was. We can only speculate that it is less than the current financial lawsuit threshold of $3,000.

 

While the main focus of this new strategy is aimed at college students, it will be implemented nationwide with all ISPs and their customers. The RIAA classified this new initiative as a "win, win, win situation", meaning a win for the person caught, a win for "ourselves" (the RIAA), and a win for the university. Although the content of this new pre-lawsuit letter has not been released, it's doubtful the student will feel like much of a winner after receiving it.

 

In addition, the RIAA stated they will step up enforcement against LimeWire and Ares Galaxy users. After the initial introductions by the RIAA, reporters were then able to ask questions. Slyck was put into queue, however time ran out before we were able to participate.

[jhh4321]

I go to Boston University and one of my friends has received three citations for torrenting various music and movies and hasn't seen any actual punishment. Another friend of mine received a warning for a downloading one song that she downloaded two years ago, not even on campus. This stuff is getting rediculous but at the same time I dont think that many people are actually getting screwed by it.

[tongue-tied]

the RIAA classified this new initiative as a "win, win, win situation", meaning a win for the person caught.

 

[caliber66]

the RIAA classified this new initiative as a "win, win, win situation", meaning a win for the person caught.

 

I imagine they mean that by settling, the person who is caught frees him- or herself from future (and presumably much more aggressive) litigation.

[OOO]

What I don't like about how the RIAA is doing things is that they aren't really suing people for the money, just to scare the other people. They are attacking groups of people to scare the general population into doing what they want. Which is vaguely similar to terrorism.

 

Frankly they don't scare me, but I agree that they do have a right and a responsibility to respect the investments they made in the music. But as a consumer (and a university student to boot) I can definitely say that I don't appreciate scare tactics being used to try to dictate what i do and don't do.

 

I don't think people who get sued by the RIAA have any right to be complaining, because thats part of the risk of downloading. It's copyright infringement and everyone knows thats, so if you get caught, tough shit and pay your dues, but I think there is a better way.

 

The RIAA should be paying innovators to come up with creative, fun, and new ways for people to buy their music online or to pay for the music through seeing ads or something. You catch more flies with honey then...uhh..wait i don't remember that line. Wait, its vinegar...I think.

[Analogman]

RIAA cracking down on illegal downloads

 

Please be aware that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently has intensified its efforts to stop illegal downloads. In the last two months, RIAA has mailed prelitigation settlement letters to more than 800 students nationwide. RIAA promises to pursue hundreds of similar enforcement actions each month. WVU does not tolerate copyright infringement in any form, including P2P file swapping of copyrighted works. Copyright infringement using the WVU network will result in disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, suspension of network service. Whether you use the WVU network or an off-campus service provider, please take note of RIAA's increased enforcement efforts and the serious penalties for copyright infringement (http://www.riaa.com/issues/piracy/penalties.asp).

[Wilco LP #7]

Basically, this country's legal system is-and for a long time has been-the whore of industry.

[Chendizzle]

If literally no one buys music, I doubt anyone (RIAA labels or not) would be willing to make albums.

Ehh I don't buy that. People will always make music and therefore albums, and since playing shows accounts for most of a band's income they can always just tour and sell their merch at shows.

 

 

My question is, how does the RIAA actually identify people?

 

They can't track ysi, sendspace, etc links correct?

Can they track Oink/invite-only places torrents?

 

Do they do it through Limewire, Bearshare, or public torrents? Soulseek?

 

I feel like I'm safe if I'm only using Oink and various sendspace links from forums/blogs.

 

I'm lucky at my school that they don't block torrents and I've never heard of anyone being warned for downloading. I have read that there is an excessive upload/download bandwith policy, but it must be pretty big if they aren't warning me for it.

[anodyne]

if you're stealing like i am, you're rolling the dice. i'll keep stealing and then buying because i'm tired of getting burned on shit records. since i got the napster running close to a decade ago, i've only bought like 5 shitty records. i used to get that many per month before the internet tubes delivered the hot rock.

[Analogman]

Yahoo News - 5.13.07

 

LINCOLN, Neb. - At first, Sarah Barg thought the e-mail was a scam. Some group called the

Recording Industry Association of America was accusing the University of Nebraska-Lincoln sophomore of illegally downloading 381 songs using the school's computer network and a program called Ares.

 

The letter said she might be sued but offered her the chance to settle out of court.

 

Barg couldn't imagine anyone expected her to pay $3,000

[quarter23cd]

Not necessarily because of this, but I haven't downloaded anything in months. Coincidentally, I also haven't bought anything in months.

[Chendizzle]

Like the kid said, of course the RIAA is targeting college kids, they won't fight back. It's pretty much bullshit, an archaic company can't learn to adapt and change with the times so they sick their big lawyers on the defenseless. Great business strategy!

[caliber66]

Like the kid said, of course the RIAA is targeting college kids, they won't fight back. It's pretty much bullshit, an archaic company can't learn to adapt and change with the times so they sick their big lawyers on the defenseless. Great business strategy!

Yeah, the association of music publishers doesn't want to adapt to allow people to steal their product. ASSHOLES!

 

"Obviously I knew it was illegal, but no one got in trouble for it," Barg said.

 

Barg's parents paid the $3,000 settlement. Without their help, "I don't know what I would have done. I'm only 20 years old," she said.

 

Really. If she couldn't pay the penalty for knowingly breaking the law, then I think she probably would have been better served by not breaking the law.

[Chendizzle]

Yeah, the association of music publishers doesn't want to adapt to allow people to steal their product. ASSHOLES!

 

As proved by the complete failure of the Itunes model, sure how can we blame them for sitting on their asses? I can understand they want to protect their product, but there's many better ways to combat it than basically extorting people.

 

Food for thought via Tiny Mix Tapes:

 

"eMarketer is reporting that the music industry

[caliber66]

As proved by the complete failure of the Itunes model, sure how can we blame them for sitting on their asses? I can understand they want to protect their product, but there's many better ways to combat it than basically extorting people.

 

Food for thought via Tiny Mix Tapes:

 

"eMarketer is reporting that the music industry

[bjorn_skurj]

I would imagine that college kids are big, if not the biggest, filesharers, so scaring the shit out of a certain percentage of them and perhaps ruining a few spring breaks probably goes a long way. I dunno. I would never hook up to one of those P2P things. I have enough problems as it is.

[caliber66]

"eMarketer is reporting that the music industry

[MattZ]

I think this bears repeating. Whose revenues aren't harmed by illegal music downloads?

 

Not to mention:

 

http://forums.viachicago.org/index.php?showtopic=28417