R I A A — No Chance They Are Going Away
November 2007
David Kovarik,
Director NUIT Information & Systems
Security/Compliance
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) continues its assault on unlawful downloading and peer-to-peer (p2p) filesharing of copyrighted materials. Several noteworthy events occurred recently:
- Fifteen Northwestern students paid $3000 to the RIAA. Violating students were offered settlements for a suggested amount, an average of $3,000, or face legal action and the possibility of conviction, fines and/or incarceration.
- The RIAA enlisted the aid of Congress to stop copyright infringement. In August, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) amended the Higher Education Act reauthorization bill to require colleges to purchase anti-piracy tools. The amendment was struck from the final bill.
- On November 15, 2007, the House Education and Labor Committee unanimously approved the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which requires universities to specifically address illegal downloading and p2p file sharing.
These events are worthy of some further examination.
The first event describes the direct, adverse impact to members of Northwestern’s student body, possibly individuals that you know personally. As a result of a personal decision, these fifteen individuals elected to participate in an illegal activity, were caught, and paid the price.
To be sure, the RIAA has every incentive to continue their aggressive pursuit of alleged offenders — the week of November 15, 2007, the RIAA issued 417 pre-litigation settlement letters to 16 universities.
The later events are indicative of a potentially larger problem, one that could have far-reaching effects on academic and personal freedoms, economics, and personal liability. The recording industry has been able to convince members of the legislature that universities are not doing enough to solve the problem, that legislation is required to force universities and other organizations to comply, and that there are technical solutions that will solve the problem.
Northwestern and many of our peers have awareness and proactive programs to prevent and deter copyright infringement. However, if legislators are unconvinced of the effectiveness of these programs, the result could be onerous regulations.
Admittedly, there are existing technologies that can be employed to help monitor and detect illegal traffic, yet no turnkey solution as some vendors would have legislators believe.
Arguably, there are a number of positions one could assume in discussing these topics. But from my view, the solution to the collective issue of illegal downloading and filesharing of copyrighted materials is markedly simple: don’t do it!
Enough said.
