Re: US Lawmakers Demand That Colleges Crack Down on Illegal File Sharing

[Alex Campoe <campoe () USF EDU>]

I wonder what percentage of the RIAA notes are sent to Colleges and
Universities versus ISPs. What about statistics based on country of
origin? Are any notes sent abroad? Has anyone ever seen any figures?

Alex

H. Morrow Long wrote:
> Thursday, February 27, 2003
>
> http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003022701t.htm
>
>
> Lawmakers Demand That Colleges Crack Down on Illegal File Sharing
> By ANDREA L. FOSTER
>
> Washington
>
> Members of the U.S. House of Representatives admonished university
> administrators on Wednesday to get tougher with students who swap music
> and video material online in violation of copyright law.
>
> The representatives, members of the Subcommittee on Courts, the
> Internet, and Intellectual Property of the Committee on the Judiciary,
> told administrators from Pennsylvania State University, the University
> of North Carolina, and the University of Tulsa that the way to really
> convince students that illegal file sharing is wrong is to expel or
> prosecute them.
>
> The college administrators questioned by the congressmen were Graham B.
> Spanier, president of Penn State at University Park; Robyn R. Render,
> chief information officer of the North Carolina system; and John Hale,
> director of the Center for Information Security at Tulsa.
>
> Rep. William L. Jenkins, a Tennessee Republican, repeatedly asked the
> administrators whether they had tried to get government lawyers to
> prosecute recalcitrant students.
>
> "We don't handle it that way," said Mr. Spanier. The university tries
> first to educate students about copyright infringement and then, failing
> that, restricts or ends their ability to gain access to the network, he
> said.
>
> Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, pressed the administrators
> about whether they had ever expelled a student for illegal file sharing,
> and was told no.
>
> "Until this committee and the universities are willing to do something
> about this, we're just wasting everyone's time," she said.
>
> Ms. Waters speculated that college officials are too afraid to go after
> their largely "middle class" student population but probably would not
> hesitate to prosecute poor students from the inner city.
>
> Rep. Anthony D. Weiner, a New York Democrat, told the university
> administrators that their students would probably stop illegal file
> sharing if the computers they used for the activity suddenly ignited in
> flames.
>
> Hilary B. Rosen, chief executive officer of the Recording Industry
> Association of America, told the committee that the association would
> consider prosecuting individual students who illegally swapped music
> online. "Nothing is off the table," she said. The association sends out
> about 2,500 notices a month to universities warning them of illegal file
> sharing on their networks, she added.
>
> Mr. Spanier and Ms. Render said they were hopeful that a committee made
> up of university administrators and representatives from the
> entertainment industry could come up with a solution to the problem of
> illegal file sharing by college students. Mr. Spanier is a co-chairman
> of the committee, which is considering technological and other methods
> to reduce peer-to-peer file sharing.
>
> But the lawmakers said legislation might be needed to deal with the
> problem. "What's been done in education and enforcement hasn't worked
> that well," said Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, who is chairman
> of the House subcommittee.
>
> And Rep. John Conyers Jr., a Michigan Democrat, noted that Congress had
> considered legislation that would require people convicted of sharing
> copyrighted material online to serve at least five years in prison.
>
> "We have to see from the education community a ratcheting up of concern
> about this," said Mr. Conyers.
>
>
>
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--
-------
J. Alex Campoe - campoe () usf edu
Associate Director, Systems, Academic Computing
Data Security Manager, University of South Florida
Phone (813) 974-1796

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