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RIAA targets more University students
Determined again to make criminals of our young people, the RIAA has decided to pick on some more college students, with a fresh round of lawsuits. This time, it’s the turn of a grand total of 405 students at 18 colleges across the USA. 25 of the students are from Princeton University. The issue at hand here seems to be the alleged misuse of the Internet2 technology, which we recently reported on. The RIAA have vowed not to let Internet2 become "a zone of lawlessness where the normal rules don't apply."
Mr. Sherman said only the most "egregious" offenders are being targeted in this round of suits, and, when asked, wouldn't disclose the RIAA's methods for tracking the alleged illegal activity by targeted students. "We don't give out that information, because our investigative techniques wouldn't be as effective if everybody knew what they were," he said.
In addition to the 18 campuses where students are being sued, the RIAA said it has evidence of improper activities using i2hub at 140 other schools in 41 states. Letters are being sent to the presidents of these schools alerting them to the illegal activity occurring on their campuses, the RIAA said.
The RIAA said it has opted to limit the number of lawsuits to 25 per school at this time. Some users sued this week allegedly have shared as many as 13,600 MP3 files and as many as 72,700 total files — files containing audio, software and video, according to the RIAA.
Mr. Sherman said only the most "egregious" offenders are being targeted in this round of suits, and, when asked, wouldn't disclose the RIAA's methods for tracking the alleged illegal activity by targeted students. "We don't give out that information, because our investigative techniques wouldn't be as effective if everybody knew what they were," he said.
In addition to the 18 campuses where students are being sued, the RIAA said it has evidence of improper activities using i2hub at 140 other schools in 41 states. Letters are being sent to the presidents of these schools alerting them to the illegal activity occurring on their campuses, the RIAA said.
The RIAA said it has opted to limit the number of lawsuits to 25 per school at this time. Some users sued this week allegedly have shared as many as 13,600 MP3 files and as many as 72,700 total files — files containing audio, software and video, according to the RIAA.
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User Comments (10)
Post a comment| d212tech on April 15, 2005 2:45 PM | there are consequences to stealing,,,,
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| phantasm66 on April 15, 2005 3:49 PM | Yes, there are. But if you stop to think about it - what's next? We go around arresting people who have copied VCR tapes over the years? Or copied a CD to a cassette for their friends? Man, think about what is happening here: young people are being criminalised, and having their futures taken away, because they are being singled out for something that EVERYONE is doing anyway. Why do you think iPods sell? Wake up. P2P is out of the bottle now like a genie, and it can't be put back in. Ruining the future of college students is no answer, surely everyone can see that?
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| dwgk on April 15, 2005 4:50 PM | Say, you're an owner of a vineyard, and you see hundreds of
thousands of people "swarming" to your vineyard, picking off
your grapes. Would you say "Oh, it's okay, EVERYONE is
doing it anyway" and not even care to arrest some of
them? If you think that's okay, then please write me back with your current address. I'll pay you a visit and steal some of your stuff that I feel is trivial to you when you're not at home. That's okay too, right? Originally posted by phantasm66: Yes, there are.
But if you stop to think about it - what's next? We go around arresting people who have copied VCR tapes over the years? Or copied a CD to a cassette for their friends? Man, think about what is happening here: young people are being criminalised, and having their futures taken away, because they are being singled out for something that EVERYONE is doing anyway. Why do you think iPods sell? Wake up. P2P is out of the bottle now like a genie, and it can't be put back in. Ruining the future of college students is no answer, surely everyone can see that?
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| zephead on April 15, 2005 5:10 PM | i guess the real lesson here is don't get caught 
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| phantasm66 on April 15, 2005 6:15 PM | If everyone is doing something that is against the law, then
that is a bad law. Its a law that is hard to enforce, and
leads to injustice when some people are caught, because
examples are made of them and punishment is far too harsh.
Surely people must see that the campaign from the RIAA is
unjust and wrong.
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| Mikael on April 15, 2005 7:33 PM | If it is such a serious crime, I wonder why the RIAA prefers
to make people settle out of court? Perhaps there is always
the chance that they have made a mistake on who they
targeted (which has happened a few times in the
past). In all honesty, downloading a song and breaking into a house are completely different. Perhaps instead of clogging the courts with these lawsuits, the RIAA should try and find a way to better provide music to listeners?
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| phantasm66 on April 16, 2005 6:22 AM | Originally posted by Mikael: In all honesty, downloading a song and breaking into a house are completely different. Perhaps instead of clogging the courts with these lawsuits, the RIAA should try and find a way to better provide music to listeners?
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| phantasm66 on April 17, 2005 3:59 AM | The existing system does not work. That is why people are
resorting to illegal practices. If there was a new, better
system, then there would be no crime. Punishing young
people, and ruining their futures, is NO ANSWER.
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| Sil on April 17, 2005 5:26 PM | Originally posted by Mikael: In all
honesty, downloading a song and breaking into a house are
completely different. Breaking into a house'd be like
hacking into a PC, or of that like.
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| Mictlantecuhtli on April 19, 2005 4:26 PM | Originally posted by Sil: Originally
posted by Mikael: Breaking into,
maybe. Downloading, no.In all honesty, downloading
a song and breaking into a house are completely
different. Breaking into a house'd be like hacking
into a PC, or of that like.You can't copy furniture or household appliances. If you steal them, they're gone from the original owner, but it's possible to steal software without the owner even noticing anything.
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