p2pnet - rss feed: University ignores RIAA blackmail
p2pnet.net news:- At least one American university has the courage to stand up for its students, refusing to cave in to blackmail threats being spammed to schools across the US by the Big 4 music cartel’s RIAA.
The University of Wisconsin says it won’t be a Big 4 copyright cop, or act as their runner in extorting ’settlement’ money from students.
RIAA is short for Recording Industry Association of America, but only one of the Big 4, Warner Music, can be said to be American, and even it’s run by a Canadian. The other three are EMI (Britain), Vivendi Universal (France) and Sony BMG (Japan and Germany).
They RIAA is trying to terrorize students into becoming compliant consumers of Big 4 music ‘product’.
“The University of Wisconsin went against the national trends Friday by warning students about its policy regarding illegal file sharing but refusing to forward settlement letters to violators from the Recording Industry Association of America,” says Nick Penzenstadler in the University of Wisconsin’s online Badger Herald.
“These settlement letters are an attempt to short circuit the legal process to rely on universities to be their legal agent,” the story quotes Brian Rust, communications manager for the UW Division of Information Technology, as saying.
Rust said DoIT receives about 10 to 20 cease-and-desist notices per day, “which they are obligated to forward to their users,” says the story, continuing:
“The notices are only warnings, Rust added, but the settlement letters brought on by the Recording Industry Association of America are more of a threat. The settlements are usually around $700 per instance, but could be as much as $3,500, according to Rust. ‘So you can imagine some people have probably come to that website with their credit card and paid it, Rust said. We do not want to be a party to that; we are not the legal agent for the recording agency, nor do we aspire to (be)’.”
Dean of Students Lori Berquam said she understands the interest of the recording industry but is concerned with the targeting.
“Housing is kind of like easy pickings,” she says, acccording to the Badger Herald, “it’s like they are any easy target because there are 5,000 of them on our campus. My fear is that this is just the residence folks are being targeted, but who knows about the rest of the country.”
Said horrified RIAA communications director Jenni Engebretsen (upper right), quoted in the story, “It’s almost unimaginable that a university would be unwilling to help a student avoid a lawsuit. Our pre-litigation settlement letters are offered as a benefit to university students to allow them to settle claims early, at a substantially discounted sum and off the public record.”
“OH NO!” - says one comment post. “Where will I get my bootleg Britney Spears music? Paying for ‘art’ like that just cheapens her talent.”
“Here’s Britney Spears’ private jet,” says another. “Notice anything? Britney used to have a Gulfstream IV. Now she’s had to sell it and get a Gulfstream III because people like you chose to download her music for free. The Gulfstream III doesn’t even have a remote control for its surround-sound DVD system.”
And, “This is Mafia-style extortion, except with a lot less style & finesse,” says a third. “Props to the Uni for not being the tool of the MAF-IAA.”
RIAA spin doctors Mitch Bainwol and Cary Sherman are currently touting a long line of equine excreta in a bid to justify the attacks on students, not to mention their parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends ……..
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UPDATE: March 21, 2007
The RIAA has sent out another 405 blackmail letters to 23 universities across the US. Click here for more.
Stay tuned.
Also See:
Badger Herald - UW warns music sharers, March 19, 2007
equine excreta - RIAA tries to excuse school attacks, March 19, 2007
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