Mount Holyoke abandons students to RIAA
p2pnet news | RIAA News:- Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, was founded by Mary Lyon in 1837, “when higher education for women was a revolutionary idea,” it boasts, also promoting the conviction that, “women can and should make a difference in the world”.
Not in 2008, however, and not if the school can help it.
The “conviction” doesn’t stretch to protecting students, or advising them on how best to defend themselves against RIAA extortion.
Mount Holyoke was one of the 18 schools named in the RIAA’s first attack of the year as part of the Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG campaign to use US teaching institutions as copyright enforcement and sales units, staffed by teachers and funded by taxpayers.
“A few years ago Mount Holyoke College received one pre-litigation letter,” says the Daily Hampshire Gazette, going on:
“The student settled the claim outside of court, said Lee Bowie, dean of the college at Mount Holyoke.”
Now, “Bowie expects the 14 people who received the letters will pay the settlement at $3,000 per person and not try to fight the allegations in court,” says the story.
That’s it, then.
Students being attacked by the Big 4 are on their own, as the college points out unequivocally, saying if it gets a nasty letter from the RIAA, it’ll simply pass it on, effectively washing its hand of the affair.
“If the College receives such a message, we forward the electronic letter to your College email address so that you can make an informed decision how to proceed,” it states under Advice on Peer-to-Peer Filesharing, going on:
The College may be served with a subpoena to reveal the identity of the individual whose computer was engaged in copyright infringement. This action is a necessary pre-condition for a lawsuit since the College does not provide the identity without a subpoena.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the College is not a party to any copyright related lawsuits with students. Legally, the College is functioning as an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The College is not passing judgement on whether or not the allegations are valid.
We are very sorry, but the College is not able to provide any legal advice on how to proceed. That is up to you. It is important that you read any information you receive about such matters very carefully. If you get into this kind of situation, it is best to involve your family in discussions and consider obtaining legal advice from your own attorney.
Way to go, Holyoke.
Also See:-
first attack of the year – RIAA attacks another 18 US schools, January 14, 2008
Daily Hampshire Gazette – Recording group goes after Mount Holyoke students for illegal downloads, January 21, 2008
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January 23rd, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I have my guns. Send me your letter RIAA!
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:14 pm
If they transmit any information to the RIAA sorry college but you are part of the game with all the consequences on the side of the RIAA.
Why are you keeping any logs?
The easy answer to this is not to keep any log. Them the RIAA can extort subpoena it will not do anything.
I don’t keep any log on my server so if I receive a subpoena sorry RIAA! yo can fuck yourself with it and you can have the judge you corupted do the same!
February 9th, 2008 at 10:00 am
there were thirteen students who received letters.