Sends out record numbers of copyright infringement notices after it apparently undergoes a “major change in the software and hardware” it uses to detect illegal file-sharing.The RIAA suffered a major blow in court last week, but that hasn’t stopped the organization from pressing forward with lawsuits against individuals. In fact, the group appears to be accelerating its efforts against college students. In the last two weeks, the RIAA has sent some universities up to 20 times the typical number of notices about infringement, according to press reports. For instance, George Washington University has received more than 123 notices about on-campus piracy in the last 10 days, up significantly from the usual five to 10 per week, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. "We have not seen a nationwide spike like this," said Kevin L. McLaughlin, director of information security at the University of Cincinnati. "This is new." At the University of Cincinnati, the information security department has received 13 notices in the last two weeks, compared to the typical rate of 25 to 30 a year. "We're not sure why we have seen this increase," he said, adding that the college had taken steps to limit the trading of large files on the residence-hall networks. Officials at Cincinnati, he said, feel they have done a good job of preventing copyright violations. "We sent an e-mail to our contact at RIAA, and we've also left him a voice mail." "I would hope that RIAA would start communicating with folks, letting them know what we can do to combat" any new forms of piracy that the group may now have detected, he added. Other schools to see a surge in RIAA notices include the University of Chicago and Indiana University, according to Wired. This news is odd because no one is reporting a corresponding increase in on-campus piracy. Rather, it appears that the RIAA is simply stepping up efforts on college campuses. Cara Duckworth, director of communications for the RIAA, said that the group was not doing anything out of the ordinary. “We are always making an effort to more effectively and efficiently detect infringing activity on the Internet, as we are continuously looking for ways to improve our ability to find and act on incidences of theft online,” the spokesperson said. “Having said that, there’s been no change in our procedures.” In fact, today it's being reported on Inside Higher Ed that RIAA now claims it's all due to a “major change in the software and hardware” being used to detect copyright infringementt. It says nothing about the industry’s approach has changed. Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, notes:
Some still see more sinister plans at work here, for oftentimes the RIAA cites the number of of DMCA notices sent to a university as a proof of the need for draconian legislation requiring them to install content filtering mechanisms on their networks. "Public universities are in a unique position since the industry puts pressure on us through state legislatures to try to impose what are widely considered to be draconian content monitoring measures and turn us into tech police forces in support of a specific industry," said Shel Waggener, chief information officer for the University of California at Berkeley. Mark Luker, a vice president of higher education technology advocate Educause, shares Waggner's sentiments. "The number of DMCA notices that are sent to a university vary wildly from one day to the next, and no one, including the federal government knows how they send them out or what criteria they use," he said."It is not reasonable in any way to use those counts as a basis for government actions." But in the last year, some colleges aggressively fought the RIAA, by arguing to quash subpoenas for users’ identities. In fact, in some cases college students have been able to tap into lawyers’ expertise. The University of Maine’s Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic recently took up the cause of undergraduates at the school. And in Oregon, the state attorney general has gotten involved and argued that the RIAA’s investigations were illegal since the anti-piracy organization who collect the evidence are not licensed private investigators. In fact some universities apparently don't even have to fight back. For it's been reported that Harvard University has NEVER RECEIVED any RIAA prelitigation settlement letters or subpoenas. "Harvard hasn't gotten prelitigation letters or subpoenas asking for identification of an IP address," said Wendy Selzter, a Berkman Center for Internet & Society fellow. So unless the students are model citizens and are simply so rich that they have no need for the use of free music or movies, there is something afoot here. My guess is it's fear. "While we have detected incidences of theft on the Harvard network, the levels are not sufficient enough to warrant legal action. Of course, this could always change, depending on what we find," RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth told THREAT LEVEL. Duckworth said no school was "immune," not even Harvard. "We try to manage our program in the most efficient and effective way possible with the resources that we have," Duckworth said. "When we detect certain levels of piracy on school networks we reserve the right to bring legal action." I'm sure it has nothing to do with Harvard's multi-billion dollar endowment fund that could easily litigate any case the RIAA brought against it or the students, or the fact that Charles Nesson, of the Berkman Center at Harvard, told the RIAA in an open letter "to take a hike." Nesson writes:
Now if only other colleges and universities around the country had enough gumption to stand up to the RIAA as well. |
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