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

[Ken Shaurette <Ken.Shaurette () OMNITECHCORP COM>]

More Information: 
 
March 3, 2003
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Pursuing Pirates in the Workplace

The entertainment industry hasn't given up on its crusade to slay the 
hydra of illegal file-swapping services. Far from it. In fact, record 
and film companies have expanded their fight against digital piracy to 
target the networks that people use to download music and movies.

Specifically, music and movie companies have reached out to 
universities and corporations, coaxing, pleading and warning them to 
step up efforts to police their own networks to stop students and 
employees who might be using them for illegal file sharing.

"The real message hear is that there's no stone we won't turn in our 
effort to protect our rightful property. It can't be a one-front 
battle here," Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) spokesman 
Richard Taylor said. "A great deal of file swapping piracy that we're 
seeing taking place are taking place in those places that have larger 
computer systems and larger pipes and those include universities and 
corporations."

The MPAA and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) are 
spreading that message to companies through a brochure sent out last 
month to all Fortune 1,000 companies in the U.S.

In it, the entertainment biggies warn executives that their employees 
could be incurring legal action and compromising corporate network 
security by using file-sharing services.

The brochure recommends that companies appoint copyright compliance 
officers and conduct routine audits of their networks to hunt for 
suspicious ".mp3, .wma" and ".wav" files that may have been illegally 
downloaded.

Joe Rubin, director of congressional affairs for the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce, said companies take steps to protect their networks but 
should not feel an obligation to follow the specific suggestions 
outlined in the brochure.

"Routine security audits and that kind of thing already happen and 
companies are extremely diligent about making sure that firewalls are 
secured," Rubin said. "But I don't think that necessarily entails that 
there is an obligation on employers to monitor employees."

The brochure's recommendation that companies delete suspicious audio 
and video files requires them to make "judgment calls" that could 
expose them to legal and human resources problems, Rubin added.

An attorney for a Fortune 500 company who asked not to be identified 
said that his company already polices its internal networks, but not 
because it feels compelled to crack down on illegal file-sharing.

The brochure "should not be the impetus for any company to look at its 
internal network. As a normal management and legal compliance matter, 
we have internal policies that are given out to all employees 
governing the use our networks," he said.

The attorney speculated that many companies have probably already 
followed most of the advice laid out in the brochure, but questioned 
whether that document would have any impact on official company 
policies.

The copyright owners "clearly have an incentive to police their own 
copyrights [but] it's not clear to me that companies on this 
particular issue have any sort of larger social obligation" to help 
the recording and motion picture industries, he said.

The MPAA/RIAA brochure is available online (in PDF format) here.

 www.mpaa.org/Anti-piracy/press/2003/2003_02_13.pdf - 
http://www.mpaa.org/Anti-piracy/press/2003/2003_02_13.pdf

The RIAA is online at www.riaa.org - http://www.riaa.org .

The MPAA is online at www.mpaa.org - http://www.mpaa.org .

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is also 
participating in the anti-piracy effort. The group is online at 
www.ifpi.org - http://www.ifpi.org .

-- David McGuire - david.mcguire () washingtonpost com , 
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
 
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        -----Original Message----- 
        From: Lavagnino, Merri B [mailto:mbl () IUPUI EDU] 
        Sent: Fri 2/28/2003 9:39 AM 
        To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU 
        Cc: 
        Subject: Re: [SECURITY] US Lawmakers Demand That Colleges Crack Down on Illegal File Sharing
        
        

        Below is an article in which some statistics reported show why they are
        focusing on universities. (See the third paragraph down, starting "The
        hearing was the first..") But still they do not address Alex's question
        about what number of NOTICES are sent.
        
        What strikes me as most important in our experiences here at Indiana
        University is that we seldom have repeat offenders. That tells me the
        students learn from the process we have in place to notify them of the
        complaint and teach them about the law. I think this is very positive
        and tells us that our efforts are successful, but this positive aspect
        does not appear to be addressed in these meetings. I do not think the
        RIAA and MPAA realize that we have a constantly revolving community of
        users and so this is NOT a process in which we teach our users and then
        there are no more infringments ever again. It is a constant process to
        reach the huge numbers of new users who join our community every
        semester, and our data concerning the receipt and processing of DMCA
        notices shows us that the procedures we have in place to respond to
        notices is successful in stopping infringement by those individuals.
        
        They could, of course, state that our educational efforts should be so
        successful as to stop the initial instance of infringement that they
        have to send us notices about, but, they cannot claim, in at least our
        case and based on data about their notices, that our efforts to respond
        when we are notified of an infringement are not producing the desired
        results. If they wish to reduce the initial number of notices sent to
        Universities each year, they need to target individuals before they
        reach the age of 17 or 18 and hit our campuses. We do what we can to
        educate them when they arrive but they are also being educated in a lot
        of other things at the same time and this particular message is easily
        missed among all the others! There is no reason why the music and movie
        industries could not undertake such an educational campaign, similar to
        campaigns to keep children off drugs and cigarettes, that would help
        reduce the number of individuals that have to be educated on this issue
        at the late age of 17 or 18...
        
        Merri Beth
        
        Merri Beth Lavagnino
        Deputy Information Technology Policy Officer
        Office of the Vice President for Information Technology
        Indiana University
        (317) 274-3739
        
        > -----Original Message-----
        > From: AAU Listmail [mailto:AAU_LISTMAIL () aau edu]
        > Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 4:21 PM
        > To: undisclosed-recipients
        > Subject: CFR UPDATE (03-#38, 2-27-03 PM)
        >
        >
        >
        > February 27, 2003 PM
        >
        > To:           Council on Federal Relations
        > cc:           AAU Public Affairs Network, AAU Associates
        > From:         AAU Staff
        > Subject:      CFR UPDATE (03-#38, 2-27-03 PM)
        >
        > *     Summary of House Hearing on "Peer-to-Peer Piracy on University
        > Campuses"
        >
        > The Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property Subcommittee held
        > a hearing February 26 on peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing on university
        
        > campuses.  The witnesses testifying before the subcommittee were:
        >
        > --Hilary Rosen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Recording
        > Industry Association of America; --Graham Spanier, President of The
        > Pennsylvania State University; --Robyn Render, Vice President for
        > Information Resources and Chief Information Officer of the University
        > of North Carolina; and --John Hale, Assistant Professor of Computer
        > Science and Director of the Center for Information Security,
        > University of Tulsa.
        >
        > The hearing was the first under new subcommittee chairman Lamar Smith
        > (R-TX) and was heavily attended, with 17 subcommittee members in
        > attendance.  In his opening statement, Chairman Smith stated that
        > while P2P file sharing technology has many benefits, it also permits
        > the widespread distribution of digital music, movies, and software
        > files, often resulting in copyright infringement.  Smith cited data
        > from a P2P file sharing service which showed that 16% of files
        > available through that service at any given time were located at IP
        > addresses managed by U.S. educational institutions, and that file
        > traders from educational institution networks accounted for 10% of all
        
        > traders of the service at any given time.  "It's unlikely that this
        > amount of file-sharing activity is in furtherance of class
        > assignments," Smith observed.
        >
        > Almost all members made opening statements.  Although the statements
        > varied in tone and content-with some emphasizing P2P file sharing as
        > criminal activity and others noting the important role of the academic
        
        > community in the development of information technology, the legitimate
        
        > uses of P2P technology, and the importance of the entertainment
        > industry developing new business models-all members stated that
        > illegal P2P file sharing was a major problem requiring serious action.
        >
        > In her statement, Hilary Rosen stated that the hearing came at a
        > propitious time because illegal P2P file sharing is increasing but
        > legitimate on-line music subscription services are now available.  She
        
        > stated that P2P technology itself is not unlawful but most of its uses
        
        > are, and cited the ready acceptance of file sharing by college
        > students, aided by the fast Internet connections available to
        > them-often as a result of government funding intended for network use
        > in support of academic, research and other legitimate purposes.
        >
        > Rosen expressed particular concern for the growth of what she termed
        > LANNs-Local Area Napster Networks-intranets that eliminate the problem
        
        > Internet file sharing poses on institutional bandwidth.  She expressed
        
        > optimism that the recent collaboration between the entertainment and
        > higher education communities would achieve real progress in reducing
        > unauthorized P2P file sharing and promoting legitimate on-line music
        > subscription services.
        >
        > Graham Spanier described the goals of the Joint Committee of the
        > Higher Education and Entertainment Communities, of which he is
        > co-chair, and its three task forces on campus education on copyright
        > and P2P file sharing, use of technology in managing P2P use, and
        > legislative issues. Spanier stated that higher education recognizes
        > that P2P file trading that constitutes copyright infringement is
        > illegal and should be stopped and that higher education institutions
        > have an obligation to educate their students about their legal and
        > ethical responsibilities.
        >
        > In turn, Spanier expressed the hope that entertainment industry
        > officials and policy makers such as members of the subcommittee would
        > understand the challenges that confront university administrators in
        > trying to eliminate or reduce inappropriate uses of P2P technology
        > without eliminating legitimate uses, without constricting academic
        > freedom and the open exchange of information, and with invading the
        > privacy of university students, faculty, and staff.
        >
        > Spanier described Penn State's copyright education programs,
        > acceptable use policies and due process procedures for dealing with
        > violations of university policies, as well as technological means
        > employed to control P2P use and disrupt infringing activities.  He
        > noted that no single educational program or technology policy would be
        
        > appropriate across the diversity higher education institutions and
        > stated that the Joint Committee's education and technology task forces
        
        > would seek to identify a range of options for addressing P2P misuse.
        >
        > Robyn Render stated that American universities are committed to
        > addressing the unauthorized trading of copyrighted materials but must
        > do so through policies and practices for network management that
        > accommodate core academic values.  Federal legislation that would
        > limit legitimate uses of P2P technology would threaten the central
        > values of the higher education community.  Render described a number
        > of actions that have taken place on the 16 campuses of the University
        > of North Carolina System to educate students about copyright generally
        
        > and P2P use specifically, and to employ network management and
        > monitoring tools to assist network administrators to manage traffic
        > types and network use.  UNC campuses employ education and counseling
        > for violators of copyright and acceptable use policies, but also
        > engage disciplinary procedures consistent with campus student
        > disciplinary procedures when necessary.
        >
        > John Hale noted that in addition to the legal and ethical problems
        > posed by student misuse of P2P technology, such use also poses
        > increased risk to network and computer security.  Filtering or
        > blocking techniques to control the downloading or uploading of files
        > of copyrighted material lead P2P developers to create new encryption
        > techniques to circumvent such techniques, leading to a "cat-and-mouse"
        
        > game played between P2P developers and network managers.  Hale stated
        > that "it will take a combination of efforts on multiple fronts to help
        
        > this promising technology survive its adolescence."
        >
        > The question and answer period focused on what specific actions
        > universities were taking to eliminate illegal peer-to-peer file
        > trading. Members asked for evidence of reduction in the volume of
        > illegal file trading and whether any students had been arrested or
        > expelled for illegal file trading.  Graham Spanier said that he
        > thought progress had been made on eliminating cases of gross
        > infringement but that more moderate levels of inappropriate file
        > trading continued to be a problem. The higher education witnesses
        > restated the importance of addressing the problem within the context
        > of academic values and institutional due-process procedures and noted
        > that the problem of P2P misuse was not unique to college and
        > university campuses.
        >
        > Several members expressed their appreciation for efforts of higher
        > education to work cooperatively with the entertainment industry but
        > emphasized that their joint work needed to go beyond process to
        > results. One member stated emphatically that Congress needed to "see
        > more seriousness" from universities and that if results were not
        > forthcoming, Congress would step in with draconian solutions.
        >
        > End of Document
        
        -----Original Message-----
        From: Alex Campoe [mailto:campoe () USF EDU]
        Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 4:33 PM
        To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
        Subject: Re: [SECURITY] US Lawmakers Demand That Colleges Crack Down on
        Illegal File Sharing
        
        
        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
        
        [previous communication deleted]
        
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