[privacy] Those Wacky RIAA/MPAA Lawyers

["Justin Polazzo" <jpolazzo () thesportsauthority com>]

The latest group of evil'do'ers? HigherED students, I thought we already
got them?!
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http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=1166

Campus file-traders have learned to simply not share music on the
Internet. Instead, they have resorted to sharing on their campus
Intranet - or LAN (Local Area Network.) The most popular clients
students use to engage in this type of sharing is DC++ (an open source
version of DirectConnect); however using Gnutella in a LAN configuration
has also proven useful. Because the RIAA and MPAA have no access to
campus networks, it is a virtual impossibility for them to monitor this
activity.

Knowing this, college and university students are practically immune
from RIAA or MPAA lawsuits as long as they share within the confines of
the campus network. Considering many universities contain many thousands
or tens of thousands of individuals, finding the files he or she wants
is typically not a problem.

The situation is raising concerns within the RIAA and MPAA ranks, as
they are impotent to deter this unauthorized file-sharing. In fact, the
situation is becoming so rampant both organizations have taken the
unusual step of issuing joint press releases on the issue. Additionally,
the two trade organizations sent 40 letters to as many universities in
25 states addressing the issue. The letters explained the extent of the
problem and what campus administrators can do to resolve the issue.

"We are appreciative of our partners in the university community and all
they have done in recent years to tackle the problem of digital piracy
at campuses across the country," said RIAA President Cary Sherman.
"Despite the progress achieved by our collaborative efforts, this
remains an ever-evolving problem. We cannot ignore the growing misuse of
campus LAN systems or the toll this means of theft is taking on our
industry. As we prioritize our focus on campus LAN piracy in the coming
year, we hope administrators will take this opportunity to fully
evaluate their systems and take action to stop theft by all means."

In the letters, the RIAA and MPAA suggest using blocking and filtering
software such as RedLambda's cGrid and Audible Magic's CopySense.
However in the past, universities have been reluctant to abide by the
entertainment industry's bidding and have only succumbed under the
threat of legal action or when their own bandwidth interests are at
stake. This significant move by the entertainment industry annunciates
that perhaps the war against online piracy is not going as well as
advertised.
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Next step: Sue the campuses (campi?) for allowing the evil on their
network.

-JP

Justin Polazzo
Security Analyst
Sports Authority
jpolazzo () thesportsauthority com
303-524-7349
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