Ars Technica slams ‘p2p report’
p2pnet.net News:- Ars Technica’s Ken ‘Caesar’ Fisher has come out against the entertainment industry’s invasion of schools.
Earlier today, p2pnet ran University p2p ‘report’ in which we said:
“Increasing numbers of schools across the US are giving in to virtual blackmail. They’re allowing the entertainment industry to turn their institutions into marketing and distribution outlets, and school police units, to protect students from being sued – by the industry.”
Twenty US Universities and Colleges “have decided to make their student’s consumer decisions for them in an effort to get the RIAA off of their backs,” writes Fisher here.
“These higher educational institutions have all chosen to use student funds to enter into massive business deals with the likes of Napster to provide free or reduced-fee access to online music. Apparently convinced that students shouldn’t be left alone in the educational environment without a University-supplied Napster account, trustees are becoming favorable to these deals. In the Fall of 2003 we saw Penn State hop on the bandwagon, and since that time numerous other schools have signed up as well.”
He quotes RIAA president Cary Sherman as saying in a conference call, “”This is a trend that will continue to proliferate, and we could not be more pleased.”
And, “In a statement more fitting for a Tobacco company, Mr. Sherman made it clear how much he respects the student body, Fisher says, to wit:
“Once students are introduced to the qualitative difference, we think they will become addicted to the habit and become long-term music purchasers. That’s the good news for us.”
“Sometimes rhetoric tells you all you need to know,” the article adds.
“Sherman went on to preach the supposed benefits of these plans over the evil P2P scourge. Citing a safer environment and higher quality files, Sherman would have the world believe that lossy, DRM-laden files trump anything available on the P2P networks. The marketplace will surely be much more vibrant should this ever actually be true.”
