Campus file-sharers get a pre-litigation “settlement” letter just in time for finals, and this time the Ivy League feels its wrath as well.
The RIAA continues to intimidate the people it once referred to as “some its best customers” with word that it has launched round 10 of its crackdown on campus piracy nationwide.
As before, the RIAA is kind enough to allow students the opportunity to resolve copyright infringement claims against them at a discounted rate before a formal lawsuit is filed and bypass the legal process altogether. 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 having it heard before a judge a jury.
The pre-litigation settlement letters were sent out in the following quantities to 16 schools including:
- Boston University (40)
- Brown University (12)
- Central Michigan University (28)
- Columbia University (43)
- Dartmouth College (22)
- Duke University (27)
- North Carolina State University (38)
- Princeton University (10)
- University of Chicago (14)
- University of Connecticut (26)
- University of Maine System (34)
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln (14)
- University of Pennsylvania (16)
- University of Tennessee-Knoxville (32)
- University of Texas-Austin (50)
- Yale University (11)
An interesting question that seems left out of the discussion is that are these rounds of lawsuits, or “settlements” as the RIAA calls them, really only a haphazard scheme that unfairly targets only those students who live on campus?
Off-campus students who are of course using an internet connection outside that of their campus network aren’t subject to the same sort of scrutiny by network administrators or RIAA hired guns, and in many cases comprise a majority of the student body. In essence, it comes down to a true minority of students who are the subject of these incessant “settlement” rounds by the RIAA and could serve to be another reason why music fans will boycott the RIAA and the purchase of physical CDs, the bread and butter of the record labels.
I mean isn’t it unreasonable for the RIAA to focus only on dorm residents just because they are easier to locate thanks to being able to use campus resources? Many more people illegally download in the off-campus student community and go unpunished because the RIAA has no means to find them.
Considering the number of students who are able to illegally download because they no longer live in the dorms, it’s uncertain whether the RIAA is going to accomplish anything in the end.
Additionally, the RIAA is basically freeloading off of vital campus resources by making network administrators do all the work and bear all the costs of installing and maintaining anti-P2P and file-sharing measures so that its content won’t be illegally distributed. Rather than have funds that could be made available for additional classes in an popular or overcrowded subject, a school has to instead waste it on making sure that little freshman Billy isn’t trading Bon Jovi’s greatest hits with his buddies.
The news comes on top of recent efforts by Democrat legislators in Congress to to federal funding to a college’s efforts to crackdown on illegal file-sharing. Failure to comply results in the loss of federal student loans for all the student body and not just alleged or convicted pirates.
Looking for more stuff to watch or download?
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News Tip? Comment? Suggestion? jared@zeropaid.com
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4 Ivys and a number of top teir colleges up there. Geez I don’t see them going out and suing state schools probably because they know the kids at these schools have dinero.
funny thing is i don’t.
When are the universities going to all get together and tell the RIAA to fuck off? Personally I would have done that already. All it will take is a good number of universities to band together and tell them to screw off.
This shows that the RIAA are increasingly taking action an example is what happened to oink.cd. There are real criminals out there and there are those who obey the law and pay their taxes only to be prosecuted/ sued for downloading some music etc which is perfectly moral in most cases (unless they plan to copy it and make profit) but illegal because it would mean money out the pockets of some rich guy with 5 cars and 3 houses and he of course is the person who matters most to the governments system. For example a person won’t buy a cd anyway so he is doing no harm by downloading the mp3 file of a song from the cd for personal use It is a victimless crime but the so called ‘criminals’ who download music are the only victims when organisations like the RIAA start taking action…
attn Wolfpack family…please remember that you have FREE Student Legal Services while you attend NCSU! Do NOT let them boss you around!!!!!
funny funny funny……….they always blame us but they cant sue us all……..can they? sure that someday we will find out whos trying to do “whats best for all” (damn selfish bastards)