Wesleyan University: working for the RIAA
p2pnet news view MPAA | RIAA News:- “We don’t want to sit around and watch people downloading. That’s not our job.”
Actually, Ganesan, that is your job. According to Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG and their RIAA.
It’s also your job to harass and intimidate students on behalf of the Big 4, act as korporate kopyright kops, coerce administrators and teaching staff into sending Big 4 extortion letters to students, function as unpaid marketing staff, etc and so on
Ganesan Ravishanker is the associate ITS vice president at the Wesleyan University in Connecticut and the Wesleyan Argus, the university’s student newspaper, states »»»
In an ongoing effort to decrease illegal file sharing on college campuses, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have been sending notices of infractions to colleges and universities across the country.
“If the RIAA sends a notice, there is a legal obligation that we inform the offender and ask them to take corrective action,” said Associate Vice President for ITS Ganesan Ravishanker.
The notices from RIAA or MPAA contain the IP address of the computer from which the sharing occurred, along with the date and time of the violation and names of shared files. Since every computer using the Wesleyan network is registered at the beginning of the year, Information Technology Services (ITS) is able to match IP addresses with the owners of computers.
According to Helpdesk Manager John Hammond, students identified by the RIAA or MPAA receive an e-mail from ITS and must take their computers to the Helpdesk, where they are required to uninstall file-sharing software and delete illegally obtained files. Until they do that, the students are still able to use e-mail, Blackboard and other University websites, but are kept on restricted access until they resolve the issue. Ravishankar noted that the University has taken this action five times this semester.
If ITS receives notices about violations by a single student on three separate occasions, then that student is referred to the Dean’s office, though this has yet to occur.
The story also has Ravishanker saying the RIAA, “has also recently been issuing pre-litigation notices, which may require schools to identify student offenders directly to the RIAA.”
In these cases, “matters would have to be settled between the offender and the RIAA, which can potentially involve lawsuits.”
What this means is: the RIAA tries to blackmail students into ’settling’ for upwards of $3,000.
However, far from resolving matters, this merely has students confessing to the non-existent offence of filesharing, and without the benefit of appropriate legal advice, at the same time handing the RIAA information about themselves which the enforcement organisation can choose to revive for further action at any time of its choosing.
“[Illegal file sharing] can get ugly and serious very quickly, and our hands are tied in terms of how much we can do and what we can do to protect the student,” the Argus quotes Ravishanker as saying.
However, RIAA anti-student, anti-P2p, activities are always ugly.
The university does, though, have one thing in its favour.
It hasn’t been sucked into installing expensive and ineffective Audible Magic CopyNonsense spy software on school systems
“According to Ravishankar, the University lacks the resources to install such mechanisms and is not interested in doing so, unless required by law,” says the story,
The university does, of course, have another option, one demonstrated by Harvard which is, significantly and not at all incidentally, about the only senior American university to escape the attentions of the RIAA.
It could simply tell the RIAA and MPAA where to poke it.
Meanwhile, it’d be interesting to learn if Barack Obama, the next president of America, who delivered university’s commencement address, has had the activities of the entertainment industry with respect to the people who elected him spelled out in depth and in detail.
It’s unlikely at this point. He’s probably been hearing only the lies of highly paid industry lobbyists with direct access, and those of avowed industry supporter and vp-to-be Joe Bidden.
But the Net could change that.
Its access is even more direct.
Wesleyan Argus - Internet usage may be restricted for students violating fi le-sharing policy, November 11, 2008
blackmail students into ’settling’ - RIAA college settlement plan, February 28, 2007
CopyNonsense spy software - More RIAA CopySense nonsense, September 23, 3008
escape the attentions of the RIAA - RIAA caught in ‘legal bees’ nest’, oxctober 31, 2008
avowed industry supporter - How much will Biden influence Obama?, November 5, 2008
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It’s really easy!Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details.
November 11th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I work at a (different) university in CT that has a similar policy. When the school receives notice from the RIAA, the student’s internet in their dorm room is completely disabled for ten days. If they receive a second notice, their internet is disabled for twenty days. If they receive a third notice the matter is turned over to Judicial court.
November 11th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
its always easier going after the people with static ips… most colleges/universities around here are filtering BT to the point its unusable so DC++ is the hit and the MAFIAA cant touch it! File sharing now = instant file transfer for students. Chop the heads off a few and hope it coerces the society; fortunately it doesn’t work quit the same with private copying.
@above , I have heard of such policies but its more of a 3 strikes and your internet is out for semester because you made the admins read a useless email from an anti-p2p RIAA/MPAA front. However its only in your dorm, the student/teachers school network account will still have internet privelages (i.e. library, classroom, wifi) and even then you are given the chance to appeal the decision with the network admins. So what incentive is their to really stay away from private copying for educational purposes? Judicial process? What a JOKE.
The judicial process is writing a letter in appeal.. jeez im frightened hope I dont get another ludicrous email on activities that the composer cant even prove existed.
November 12th, 2008 at 5:30 am
“It’s unlikely at this point. He’s probably been hearing only the lies of highly paid industry lobbyists with direct access, and those of avowed industry supporter and vp-to-be Joe Bidden.
But the Net could change that.
Its access is even more direct.”
Someone should show Obama your site…
However, I’m sure that he’s as corrupt as the next president and it won’t matter.