Hundreds of college students are being accused of illegally sharing music online. The Recording Industry Association of America plans to sue the students for copyright infringement but are giving them the opportunity to reach settlements before going to court. Letters with discounted settlements are being sent to 400 computers at 13 different universities. The universities who will receive the letters include Arizona State, Marshall, North Carolina State, North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Syracuse, U. of Massachusetts Amherst, U. of Nebraska Lincoln, U. of South Florida, USC, U. of Tennessee Knoxville, and U. of Texas Austin.
The association began its crackdown on sharing copyright files in September 2003 and has successful sued 18,000 computers nationwide, about 1,000 of those were university students. The association claims the "theft of music remains unacceptably high" and is targeting universities because "it is especially the case on college campuses". They say that illegal sharing "undermines the industry's ability to invest in new music".
The Recording Industry Association of America is targeting students who use university Internet services to download music. They have already sent universities three times more copyright complaints this academic year than the previous year. The association hopes the schools will act by removing unauthorized content being shared on their network.
This article is especially interesting because it affects people just like us, students. No one at South or even in Washington State will receive a settlement letter and we're lucky but we could be next. The Recording Industry Association of America was smart to turn to universities because most students know how to download music (in this case illegally) and do download music.
The question I can't make up my mind about is what should universities do? Should they step up and create their own policy on illegal sharing? Do they block students from accessing the information? Or should they let the students learn a lesson the hard way and turn their head?
http://www.komotv.com/news/tech/6166946.html
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3 comments:
I think the universities should let the students do what they want when it comes to internet usage. The internet was built for us to use at our own leisure. If the recording companies come after individuals then the individual is ultimately responsible to face the music-haha. I understand illegally downloading music is wrong and should be taken seriously, but I think the recording industry needs to provide a site where people can download legally. Maybe the recording industry could institute a $25/per month fee for unlimited downloading. That fee could cover the internet site costs, artist rights and royalties, and probably contribute some overall revenue as well.
Universities should enforce rules, as they could become the target of a potential lawsuit. It would be in the best interest of the Univeristy to protect themself. And, if students decide they still want to download illegally, then that means they had to find a way around it, thus making them responsible for their actions.
I think universities should inform students about current issues that could impact them negatively. They could even impose disciplinary sanctions against students who are using university property to engage in illegal activity. But Univ. should allow the students to make decions and take risks as part of the learning process. Individuals can only learn from suffering the consequences resulting from their actions.
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