Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives
Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing
From: "Rizzo, James" <JRIZZO () PROVIDENCE EDU>
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:26:46 -0400
I am also not a lawyer, but I believe the fair use clause of copyright law allows for you to make copies of a recording for personal use. Whether those copies are on CD, cassette, or digital files is up to the person who purchased the copyrighted work. It is for this reason that the blanket statement of "downloading is illegal" is not entirely true. If you have a copy of the CD and you want the mp3 and don't feel like ripping it yourself (or as was the case in the olden days (of about 7-9 years ago) when ripping a CD took a long time, and I'm now making myself feel old), you can download it and keep it and it falls within your rights of having a legal copy of the CD. As for the whole theft vs copyright infringement, I agree. That is a very weak comparison. Someone stealing a CD from a record store will likely get very little in punishment (maybe a small fine or community service and having to return the CD, along with only being a misdemeanor). Copyright infringement can carry felony charges, which stick around to haunt you. That and it's considered a much worse crime. If they want to prosecute people who participate in illegal file sharing the same as people who steal CD's, they should. Otherwise, that comparison should not be used. By the way, I saw on my favorite semi-tech blog, Boing Boing, that the RIAA is behind that website. Jim -- Jim Rizzo Helpdesk Manager Providence College (401) 865-1277 jrizzo () providence edu AIM: JRizzoPC http://itweb.providence.edu/helpdesk ________________________________ From: Alan Amesbury [mailto:amesbury () OITSEC UMN EDU] Sent: Wed 8/23/2006 6:45 PM To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU Subject: Re: [SECURITY] New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Brad Judy wrote: [snip]
I found this FAQ tidbit interesting: "Is downloading and uploading music really stealing? If it's done without the permission of the copyright holder, it's legally no different than walking into a music store, stuffing a CD into your pocket, and walking out without paying for it." I'm not a lawyer, but I'm quite certain that theft from a store and online illegal music distribution are entirely different legally. To begin with, the victims are different (unless the RIAA and MPAA have started prosecuting shoplifters on behalf of store owners) and the applicable laws are different (copyright infringement vs theft).
[snip] Preface: I'm not a lawyer, either. That said... Although I've not seen this addressed anywhere, I think it's possible that *downloading* copyrighted material without the copyright holder's consent may be *legal*. Copyright typically centers around distribution of content without the copyright holder's permission. Someone downloading content isn't distributing it; the distributer is the one hosting it. I note that in all publicized cases I can remember involving P2P that evidence doesn't center around whether someone downloads copyrighted material, but whether they're *sharing* that material. The media tends to gloss over this, and seems to equate "sharing" with "downloading." (Because most P2P apps immediately share the material they've downloaded, this might be an excusable oversight.) As evidence supporting this theory, I point to the fact that DMCA takedown notices usually include things like the IP address *hosting* the infringing data, not the host *downloading* it. While I've heard of people seeking client lists of known P2P hubs, e.g., the eDonkey stuff that's been going on in Europe lately, I think it's because client software typically turns around and redistributes downloaded content. Again, I've not heard of a case where someone downloaded something and, *without* further distributing it, got in trouble. Then again, it could be because someone configuring their client software in that way isn't exactly low-hanging fruit on the tree of copyright violation. If enough people run P2P apps configured to not allow redistribution except to local networks (e.g., to other systems in dorms), it will probably make prosecution more difficult. Limiting external download sources to only those hosts in jurisdictions with "duplication-friendly" legal systems (such as where allofmp3.com resides), would probably also help reduce a P2P user's legal exposure considerably, if only by making them a less attractive target. I think this is one of the reasons why the various *AA groups and their ilk are so hot to get organizations like those represented on EDUCAUSE to purchase those various P2P monitoring/detection appliances. (I suspect another is that there may be some overlap between the set "members of *AA organization" and the set "investor in company that produces P2P monitoring appliance.") My expectation is that P2P stuff is going to move further underground, e.g., we're going to see a LOT more of it encapsulated in SSL and other security tech. -- Alan Amesbury (Not speaking on behalf of the) University of Minnesota
The WatchGuard Firebox which protects your network detected a message which may not be safe. Cause : The file type may not be safe. Content type : application/ms-tnef File name : winmail.dat Virus status : No information. Action : The Firebox deleted winmail.dat. Your network administrator can not restore this attachment.
Current thread:
- New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Rodney Petersen (Aug 22)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Brad Judy (Aug 22)
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Cal Frye (Aug 23)
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Alan Amesbury (Aug 23)
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Rizzo, James (Aug 23)
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Chris Green (Aug 23)
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Chris Green (Aug 23)
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing H. Morrow Long (Aug 23)
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Nate Johnson (Aug 25)
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing George C. Russ (Aug 25)
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Jordan Wiens (Aug 25)
- Re: New Video Educates Students on Illegal File Sharing Jordan Wiens (Aug 25)