p2pnet news | P2P:- Liam Jewell, 21, is a full-time senior at Plymouth State University, reading for his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a minor in Information Technology.

In August he wrote an item pointing out PSU is insisting students download a Network Access Control application called Bradford Client Security Agent if they want to go online.

Now he’s suggesting anyone thinking about caving into RIAA extortion letters should think again.

“Is Plymouth Acting Illegally by allowing students to be persecuted for alleged downloading of music and movies?” – he asks on his blog, going on >>>

First, some terms you should know:

Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) – The organization which subpoenas you for downloading music.

Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) – The organization which subpoenas you for downloading movies.

Fast Facts:

* Did you know that neither the RIAA nor the MPAA have ever won a single civil or criminal lawsuit?

* Did you also know that just last week a judge ruled on a case and shot down the argument the RIAA and MPAA have used since 2003? Meaning every lawsuit between then and last Monday is effectively invalid, due to precedent.

* Did you also know that there is a class action lawsuit underway against the RIAA?

* The RIAA and the MPAA do not know who you are until Plymouth State University tells them.

* Did you know they use an IP address to identify you, which has been proven over and over in court as an ineffective way of identifying ANYONE?

The school knows.

The School’s IT Administrators also know.

Yet in spite of their knowledge of all of the above, they have already forwarded over 100 subpoenas this school year alone!

The subpoenas that the school blindly hands out to students have no bearing in court. The subpoena’s are simply designed by the RIAA and MPAA to scare the students into settling when there is no real lawsuit against them, and no evidence that would hold up in court.

It’s ridiculous! How can the school say it is protecting your privacy as a student when it forwards these meaningless letters on to you?

Do you think they are just following the crowd, doing what every other University does? Think again.

Harvard doesn’t forward on the subpoena’s and neither do dozens of other schools. This is because they know the notices are bogus and possibly illegal. Plymouth chooses to allow this illegal persecution of it’s students. Students are not putting up with it at other University’s however, and we shouldn’t either.

Just Tuesday, University of FL students in Interscope v. Does 1-40, had their motion to quash the illegal subpoenas forwarded on by their school granted. This means that the judge found that the RIAA subpoenas were bogus for all 40 students. What a surprise.

Don’t think they are alone, they are but one of many, Oklahoma State and the University of New Mexico students are also successfully fighting this kind of harassment.

What can be done to stop this practice? Well first we need to act as one and show our disappointment about this abusive practice. Writing letters to the heads of the IT department will not help in the matter, they will just try to confuse you with tech talk. You should definitely fight anything they hand to you however. Never settle, you are throwing away your money by doing so and are incriminating yourself. Also they can still sue you after you have paid them, so it’s pretty pointless.

Next, when you get a subpoena you NEED to read the information on this link before you do anything else.

I am not a lawyer and all advice given here is opinion only.

Isn’t it time Plymouth starting acting like they care about your privacy, instead of just saying they do?

Stay tuned.

Slashdot it!

Also See:
Network Access Control – Plymouth State student control system, August 30, 2007

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