University student downloaders are not as evil as they seem

University student downloaders are not as evil as they seem
In the past year or so, we have read many stories about University students and downloading music. In my opinion, it seems the entertainment Industry cannot make up it’s Mind about University students. This news article is written in light of the entertainment industries plans to sue students at top Universities to set an example to other students around the country. So from the oldest to the newest, this is what we’ve seen in the past year.

RIAA includes students in its sue-em-all campaign on P2P users:



Ever since the RIAA crackdown began one major target was students. It is unclear exactly how many students the RIAA has sued but in it’s latest set of lawsuits, filed in December 2004, the RIAA claims it sued 68 students at 23 universities. Later on, news sources began reporting that the entertainment industry is planning to sue students at elite Universities.

Vivendi’s new anti-piracy tool:

Vivendi launched a new tool to help Campuses monitor network traffic better and attempt to squash illegal filesharing. This software is called Automated Copyright Notice System (or ACNS). The system basically tries to automate the DMCA (American copyright legislation) process -- the ACNS-compliant DMCA complaint notifications will contain XML tags that will automatically launch the ACNS process, using network admins parameters and possibly blocking the infringing IP address from using P2P services or the whole network.

P2P traffic on Internet2:

P2P use began to spread on the super-fast Internet2 network, the research network used by several universities around the world. The network can't be accessed directly by any of the regular ISPs, but is still available for most of the students who have broader Net access rights on universities with Internet2 connections. The new form P2P seemed to be growing around the mega-popular DC++ P2P software that is widely used in "traditional Internet" as well, but the difference is that all of the users are connecting to a hub that is located within the Internet2 -- a restricted zone from "outsiders", people who can access only the good old Net. Transfer speeds can, and often will, reach to levels where the HDD speed is the limiting factor, not the Net connection.

MPAA set its sights on Internet2 traffic:

The MPAA entered into talks with the Internet2 research consortium for two main reasons, firstly because it saw potential in Internet2 to distribute video content quickly and secondly and predictably because it had interest in monitoring illegal movie trading on Internet2 amongst students. You have to remember that the speed difference means movies could be downloaded in a lot less time than on the Internet.



Universities threaten students and begin campaigns against illegal filesharing:

Universities began to threaten to take Internet access away from any student who was caught infringing copyrights on its networks. Some Universities also began using Audible Magic’s CopySense program to help stop the sharing. Universities also began to limit the bandwidth that students had on the Internet through its networks.

Universities sign up with legal music services:

More than 20 Universities signed up with legal music services such as Napster for their students. This allowed students to download music for free to listen to, but they would have to pay a fee if they wanted to burn the music to a CD or put it on a portable device. The RIAA were very happy about this. "This is a trend that will continue to proliferate, and we could not be more pleased," RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a conference call last year. Students at Pennsylvania State University downloaded up to 100,000 songs per day from Napster last spring, the school's president said. "I think if we tried to take it away at this point there would be quite a rebellion," Penn State President Graham Spanier said.

RIAA & MPAA to target students from elite universities:

News sources began reporting that the entertainment industry was going to go after students from elite universities in its lawsuit campaign, simply to use them as examples for other students. BigChampagne CEO Eric Garland says the entertainment giants want to make an example out of some students. "It's really chilling," Garland said. "They're looking to find examples at all the big schools, the one unlucky kid who gets held up for everyone else to look at."

So my question is, will a crackdown on students really help the entertainment industry in it’s campaign? It seems they plan on hitting students hardest when more and more are using legal services. It’s likely that the entertainment industry might get a swift backlash of any hard action on students that they are indeed already planning. We will, of course, bring you any more news on this at AfterDawn when it comes.



Sources:
MetroNews.ca
Yale Daily News
InfoWorld
USE Today
News.com
News.com
CIO Today

Written by: James Delahunty @ 6 Feb 2005 21:02
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  • 2 comments

  • gain

    It's so easy and fast to download music on the Internet. In the future it will be more difficult to control what students are doing. Universities have not resources for that.

    6.2.2005 21:22 #1

  • int3gr4

    The universities dont need to provide the resources, the RIAA will give them whatever they need to do it. Why would the universities spend their prescious time helping the RIAA out? The RIAA is going to give them a good percentage of the money they gain from the lawsuits. At one point in history universities were more focused on teaching for the greater good of man and less worried about money. Now, many well known universities are ran by greedy demons who want nothing more than to gain money at the expense of others. The thousands of dollars these students are spending on tuition should at least ensure internet privacy. The power to stop this growing legion of hungry RIAA attack dogs is in the students hands. The university might change its mind on going to bed with the RIAA if all the internet savy students decided they might want to choose another university that doesnt stand over their shoulder and keep notes on what theyre doing on the net. The vast network of information and knowledge we refer to as the web will continue to evolve long after the world we live in has changed beyond any premonition. And, where there is net access, there will also be illegal file sharing.

    7.2.2005 08:14 #2

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