p2pnet - rss feed: Third school says No! to the RIAA
p2pnet.net news:- Earlier in the month, the University of Wisconsin said it was refusing to forward RIAA ’settlement’ letters to students the RIAA wants to con into incriminating themselves on a web site, also paying it thousands of dollars for the privilege.
The University of Maine System also declined to become a Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG copyright cop, said spokesman John Diamond stating, “The only way the RIAA can get that information is if the RIAA takes us to court to get those names.”
Now, “The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee has joined its sister school, University of Wisconsin in Madison,” says Recording Industry vs The People.
The letter, see below, went to, “all known UWM faculty, staff and student e-mail addresses”.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has recently increased its threat of lawsuits against students and others who engage in illegal digital file sharing. This is in response to perceived violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which specifically addresses copyright infringement of digital materials such as music, movies and software.
As you may know from recent press reports, the RIAA is now targeting individuals who live in university residence halls or use university computing resources. Because the RIAA can only identify violators by their ISP (Internet Service Provider) identifier, they are sending letters to universities requesting that these letters be forwarded to students, faculty and staff.
The RIAA notified UWM of its plans to send settlement proposal letters for individuals on the UWM campus whom they believe are guilty of violating federal copyright laws. These letters request that a monetary settlement be made by the violator in lieu of court action by the RIAA.
After consultation with UW System, our own legal counsel and with our understanding of federal law, UWM has decided that these letters will not be passed on to individuals. However, should RIAA send UWM a lawful subpoena for users’ account information, UWM will comply.
It is important to be aware of copyright law and avoid illegal P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing.
For more information, visit the UWM Information Security Web Site at https://www3.uwm.edu/imt/security/index.cfm.
Anyone with questions should email dmca@uwm.edu, says the site.
Also See:
incriminating themselves - Students ‘worst customers’: RIAA, March 23, 2007
copyright cop - No! 2nd school tells the RIAA, March 23, 2007
Recording Industry vs The People - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Joins Madison campus in Refusing to Forward RIAA’s collection letters, March 23, 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 29th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I hope all of the schools or at least the majority tell the RIAA to shove it! They have gone too far and it is time the universities let them know it.
April 1st, 2007 at 1:56 am
I should think they would.
More lawsuit settlements = students dropping out = less school revenue = bad rep = even more student loss = even more tuition revenue/books sales lost. Universities have a hard enough time as it is to get funds.