Arkansas schools ban p2p filesharing
p2pnet.net news:- Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG have a unique theory: schools don’t exist to educate our young people: they’re primary product marketing and copyright enforcement divisions.
With that in mind, the Big 4 are having increasing success using their RIAA and threats of imminent legal action to blackmail American school staffs and administrations into compelling students to buy corporate product, and only corporate product.
It’s hard to believe this could actually be happening, but it is, and with the full knowledge and active support of the Bush administration and, sadly, what becomes de rigeur in the US inevitably spreads elsewhere, to one degree or another.
As part of its continuing implementation efforts, the RIAA has been hassling the Arkansas Public School Computer Network (APSCN),
Now, starting tomorrow (July 1} the state of Arkansas, “will deny all APSCN P2P traffic at the State Network’s Internet edge,” says the Arkansas Department of Education.
“This will not affect in-state network traffic but will solve the majority of problems relating to P2P traffic. Overall state network performance should be improved and state resources spent troubleshooting P2P related problems will be conserved.”
And the RIAA can pat itself on the back for a job well done on behalf of its masters.
“P2P applications are consuming Internet bandwidth for what is primarily personal use,” says the Department in memo COM-07-137 addressed to superintendents, co-op directors, all principals and technology/business administrators.
“These applications make it simple for anyone to download music, video or any other kind of file from anyone else on the Internet that has the same P2P application running. Far and away the bulk of the P2P bandwidth is used to share illegal copyrighted material,” it says.
“DIS has had to answer a considerable number of RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) complaints in the past with a significant number of those complaints targeting APSCN IP addresses.”
The RIAA motto is, Hold Back the Future: Preserve the Past.
Also See:
p2pnet – WinMX returns: Grazie P2PZone!, September 23, 2005
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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!
June 30th, 2007 at 9:55 am
What about Usen… the one you should not talk about?
July 1st, 2007 at 6:10 am
Shhhh!!!!!!!!!!
July 1st, 2007 at 7:07 pm
If this ban is only for public schools then I don’t see a problem here. Unlike university access and access from commercial ISPs which is provided for directly by those using it (and therefore the users deserve to reap all of the benifits of such a connection), the Internet access in public schools is provided at the expense of the taxpayers. Personal use shouldn’t be excessive on these networks, although I don’t believe that personal use that doesn’t affect the overall speed of the network should be punished.