p2pnet - rss feed: RIAA Ohio student attacks
p2pnet.net news:- RIAA president Cary Sherman has finally admitted his organization’s efforts to stop people from using the p2p networks and independent music sites has failed.
The chances of any particular person being targeted by the Big 4 music cartel’s RIAA, or any other Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG enforcement outfit, are akin to those of winning the lottery or being hit by lightning and now:
“Frankly, we’ve found that students know that downloading from unauthorized P2P systems is illegal, but the chance of getting caught isn’t great enough to discourage them from doing it,” Sherman says in a University of maryland Diamondback post..
With that knowledge in hand, any intelligent person or entity would look for another solution - perhaps woo instead of sue? But not the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).
Don’t sue less, sue more, it Sherman’s way out.
“By increasing the number of lawsuits, we’re letting them know that the risk of getting caught is greater,” the story has him saying. “That’s also why we’re bringing more lawsuits on a single college campus.”
And right at the top of the RIAA’s American Schools Hit List - that’s to say teaching institutions singled out for RIAA Special Attention - is Ohio University.
“Office of Information Technology officials said last semester they would not defend students sued by the RIAA because it would conflict with the university’s policy against file sharing, which they said is consistent with the law,” says Diamondback. “OIT officials did not return calls for comment on this story.”
“OU officials met with about a dozen students to discuss a threat by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to bring lawsuits for illegal downloading and file-sharing unless students agree to pre-litigation settlements.” says The Athens News, continuing:.
“Richard Carpinelli, associate VP for budget and operations, said OU will not provide information linking internet protocol (IP) addresses, which RIAA has, to student names, ‘unless we are ordered by a court to do so.’ He said ‘we have no idea’ how RIAA came up with the 50 IP addresses it is targeting. OU invited to the meeting as many students as it could connect with the IP addresses, ’so they could begin to explore the full range of options’ for responding to RIAA’s letters. The closed-door meeting included an OU attorney, an IT expert, and someone from the Student Center for Legal Services.”
Now the university is looking for lawyers who may be able to help.
“As you may know, the RIAA has ramped up to sue 50 students at Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio,” says Recording Industry vs The People, going on:, “The university is located in southeast Ohio, and the Center for Student Legal Services, which is affiliated with, but not a part of, the university, has made an urgent appeal for lawyers located in Ohio who can advise, and possibly represent, students.
“If you, or someone you know, can help, please contact:
Melissa Luna
Staff Attorney
csls_luna@frognet.net
Center for Student Legal Services
50 South Court Street, Suite D
Athens, OH 45701
Phone: 740-594-8093
Fax: 740-592-1495
www.studentlegalrights.org
Meanwhile, “If the RIAA isn’t careful, it will be faced with a long and uphill battle that will only end up alienating future generations of music fans,” wrote Dakota Ballard in Oklahoma State Unioversity’s The Daily O’Collegian.
The RIAA is on record as saying it’s only trying to help students by stopping them from being sued. How this is helping them is anybody’s guess.
Also See:
hit by lightning - BPI says ‘Not yet’, June 9, 2004
Diamondback - RIAA urges downloaders to turn themselves in, March 7, 2007
RIAA Special Attention - Ohio U No 1 on RIAA p2p chart, February 23, 2007
The Athens News - OU meets with students targeted by RIAA to offer advice At 4 p.m. yesterday, March 7, 2006
Recording Industry vs The People - 50 Ohio University Students Targeted: Ohio-based Lawyers Needed, March 8, 2007
alienating future generations - The RIAA fights a hopeless war, March 8, 2007
The Daily O’Collegian - RIAA’s war on music piracy parallels war on terror, March 7, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
March 11th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
There is an americn federa law (I have read) that makes it a crime to threaten with a lawsuit and then not proceeding with the lawsuit. Sor of an anti extorsion law.
Wonder, why no one has acused RIAA of beaking the law by threatening to sue (many students at OU) and then not suing a single one?
Just an idea.