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Uni Students Slammed For Music Swapping
jomaree writes "The SMH Online reports that Sony, EMI and Universal will be in the Federal Court today, in an attempt to stop students using uni computers to swap music files. Michael Speck, the director of Music Industry Piracy Investigations, is quoted as follows: 'And we're not talking about one track here, one track there,' he said. 'We're talking piracy, significant examples of piracy.' By contrast, Sydney Uni says it knows of one student with a handful of files on a website, which does actually sound quite a bit like one track here, one track there."
Harsh, but preferable to some jerk putting DRM in my hardware.
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
Seriously, people. If you're going to submit a story, please bother to spell out the words, even the long ones.
Australia's major record companies, Sony, EMI and Universal, are acting on suspicions that students, and possibly staff, are using the universities' computers to swap digital music files. The industry says the three universities have not divulged information, but that others have co-operated.
Ah, great. BSA-style enforcement that tosses the ol' "guilty until proven innocent" mythos out the window. The alarmist in me wonders how long it'll be before consumers are forced to prove their compliance with copyright, or submit to "music collection audits".
The opinions stated herein do not necessarily represent those of anybody at all. Deal with it.
Although putting the perpetrators out of business, destroying the "infrastructure of terrorism" as the Bush adiministration would say, is not without worth, if any advocate of content providers' rights has learned anything over the past few years, it is that, just as Islamic terrorism starts with the corrupt, anti-semitic arab education systems, piracy is also the result of a deeply ingrained culture, and the most effective way to stamp it out is to cut it off at the roots.
People are always arguing that piracy is somehow reasonable, because "if only there were music available at the price I WANTED to pay, I would buy it, and I wouldn't have to steal it". Try this argument at the convenience store: "I think that bottle of malt liquor is only worth 10 cents, and if you won't sell it to me for 10 cents, I'll steal it". It doesn't work that way. Over the past several hundred years we have replaced the rule of the mob with free markets, which ensure an equitable price for both buyer and seller through the natural interactions of supply and demand. The availability of free stolen products, of course, undermines this market and makes content production ultimately impossible. Some efforts of this type may be necessary initially to restore the rule of law: But remember, if you don't like this kind of intrusion, the best thing to do is stop pirating music right now, let this culture of piracy be destroyed, and allow a market-based system of online music distribution to be established. Once this has happened, heavy-handed enforcement will be unnecessary, and everyone will be able to get what they want for a fair price.
Says the president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties:
"I don't think there is any benefit to the community in prosecuting individuals who do this as a one-off. I mean, we'd have half the students in Australia in jail."
I totally agree. As long as these students are not making money by trading this music, this seems like a real cheap shot. Before you know it, they are going to prosecute college kids for putting a quarter on a string and getting their laundry done for free.
On the other hand, SHAME ON YOU TODAY'S COLLEGE STUDENTS! If you're going to be engaged in these illicit activities, at least make a minor effort to hide your tracks. That's what college is all about ;-).
--sex
Very popular slashdot journal for adul
Read the article again. The quote you requoted is from a guy who thinks that the lawsuit is spurious. He DOESN'T think that the website is clear commercial benefit.
The opinions stated herein do not necessarily represent those of anybody at all. Deal with it.
Universities often represent some of the fastest connections to the internet that aren't traffic monitored. People have fast connections at work as well and its the threat of their IT department monitoring the network, finding out about P-2-P and getting the employee fired, that prevents people from filesharing at work (albeit some companies have lenient policies with regards to this)
Universities, OTOH, aspire to higher ideals of complete freedom (else all of us students would protest, at least in theory). Hence no threat from the University IT department, for the ones that haven't capitulated to such RIAA blackmailing.
As a result, a very large chunk of filesharing traffic originates or ends at university IPs. Hence they make the perfect RIAA target. Its fairly logical.
We just have to hope that universities don't give in to this kind of blackmailing. The question of threatening a student's freedom is much larger than that of stopping some of them from taking part in illegal acts.
It's not just an issue of money. It's a question of control.
The RIAA's accountants know that their profits have increased in the past few years. The RIAA's lawyers know that their profits have increased in the past few years. But there are people out there that are not using officially sanctioned music in officially sanctioned ways at officially sanctioned times with officially sanctioned equipment. That means there are people out there who are not under the control of the company, the mythical "consumer." This cannot be tollerated.
Microsoft has been making money hand over fist for two decades. Someone installing WinME on three of their computers when they bought one copy is not doing them any harm. If anything, it means fewer copies of Win98 in use, which means less old stuff for them to support. That's good for them. But it means that there are people out there not using the product in the officially sanctioned way on the officially sanctioned number of systems. Microsoft (and Bill Gates in particular) simply cannot deal with the concept of someone not using the product on their terms.
All of that goes back to one of the fundamental flaws in the capitalist mindset: The consumer. The mythical consumer is not a person. The mythical consumer is a machine that stands on the other side of a cash register and accepts input (products) and returns output (pictures of George Washington). They can be reduced to a mathematical equation of supply and demand. They can be manipulated by marketing. They can be made to fit into nice little cells on a spreadsheet. In short, the consumer can be controlled.
It fits nicely into the whole financial theory. Passive object Consumer (C) is convinced by active object Marketing Department (M) to purchase passive object Product (P), created by passive objects Employees (E) under the employ of the active object Owner (O). Add it all up, and you get a nice tity profit (n) for the Owner.
(C + M) + P(E) = O(n)
(A very efficent method, eh?)
There's just one problem: Not all human beings are passive objects C. Humans are not a mathematical equation. The equation works when it is not possible for a person to function otherwise. You force them into playing the role of C or E, and the equation comes out nicely. Everying is predictable, profitable, and controllable.
But as soon as something comes along that threatens the stability and controllability of that equation, panic mode sets in. The printed book would be the death of learning. TV would be the death of radio. VCRs would be the death of movies. DAT would be the death of radio. Cable would be the death of movies. E-books will be the death of learning. The Internet will be the death of civilization. And so on. A little control slips away, and the end is nigh, defend the System to the last lawyer.
No one likes uncertainty (except possibly Shrodinger), and no one likes surprises (except at birthdays). It's not your money that the RIAA or the MPAA or Microsoft want. It's your passivity. They want to know that you can be controlled, not because they want power or greed or world domination but because then you are predictable, and they can wrap their minds around something predictable. Everyone likes things to be predictable. Everyone likes knowing where their next meal is coming from.
So what do we do? Don't be a consumer. Don't be passive. Don't be swayed by marketing. Don't be a part of a machine, however well intentioned and genuinely useful it is (and it is). Most importantly: Don't take your business elsewhere. That doesn't work, it only makes your life more difficult. Saying "we'll just use open source software" doesn't do anything about the continued growth of draconian attempts at regaining control with their collateral damage. Turn and take the issue head on, at its core level: The law.
Slashdot 's editors are dickheads
If university students started putting their books online, would publishers go out of buisness? Would people stop writing books as a result?
:) Its funny that they chose to target university students for this, as if they wanted to paint their case a joke.
Likely yes, and most definately no.
If people put music online, would the record producers go out of buisness? Would people stop making music?
Hopefully yes, and hopefully people would stop making bad music.
So who are the only people standing in the way of a revolutionary step in education? Darwin's corporate bastards
God spoke to me
We should be able to do whatever we want with the information on our computers and on our networks.
That's just wrong.
Should read:
They are "swapped" for free using special software, robbing artists and their record companies of royalties.
Robbing implies that something is taken. College students by nature dont have much money. A poor college student wasnt going to buy the cd anyways, so their are no lost royalties. Furthermore, the artist will make money in the future when the college student goes to the artist's concert. That's what the industry should focus their efforts on. Making money from things that cant be duplicated (although I guess they're trying to make cds like that)
It means if i suspect EMI to be creating and album to harm me I can just take them to court without any proof.
This is getting ridiclous. The record labels are not police, and even the police cant take you to court without a warrant and reasonable evidence. The univs should counter sue, after all i bet there will be enough lawyers!
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
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By contrast, Sydney Uni says it knows of one student with a handful of files on a website...
Are you trying to imply that unauthorized file sharing almost never occurs at universities? Don't make me laugh! At least in the United States there are uncounted gigabytes devoted to this activity. Many universities have had problems with network bandwidth due to file sharing. It's a lot more than "one student with a handful of files"! How credible do you hope to be when you make claims like this?
Not to troll, but if you're losing money because of these pirates, wouldn't it be easier to go out and get a real job where you are guaranteed to make money, rather then having people steal your music everytime you release it, or wasting massive amounts of cash on lawyers to help prosecute them?
;)
Just think, if most artists today did this, then there'd be nothing left to pirate and we wouldn't be in this position.
what i don't understand is why so many people are using their considerable talents and intellect to create arguments FOR, and technology TO rip off some of the most harmless people in this country- musicians. Way to go, guys, hurt a group of people who do no harm to the environment or society, and have done nothing but enhance your lives.
I can't believe the demonization of the musicians in general, so everyone can not only feel not guilty about music piracy, but you can convince yourself that you're doing a valuable public service as well.
so let me ask you, MP3 traders, you who are so socially conscious, do you know who is really ripping you off for their own diabolical ends? Why aren't you going after who's really in control of money and powerin our country? What are you doing to thwart them?
it's been proven that when the music industry rips people off intelligent, comitted people can make them pay for it. That's how you do it, that's how you make a real change.
when you're done with the record industry what are you going to do steal from the 'real' man? oh that's right- nothing...that would take effort and commitment, and let's face it, making a REAL change in this world just isn't as fun as watching your downloads complete.
Warez by any other name...
While I am sure that the music industry has to try to recoup what they perceive as lost revenue it is in stark contrast to the approach a lot of other companies use when targeting students. Namely giving there products away for nothing.
Yeah sure at present student live on 10 $/euro/pound/drachma a week, and 98 % of that goes on drink and mind altering substances, but the students of today are the consumers of tomorrow (and the next day and the next day), or that is they will be if they don't get butt f#$@$ked left right and centre for making there spending money go a little further.
Compare the record companies approach to that of the credit card companies (stolen or otherwise). CC companies allow relatively high amounts of abuse on the part of students as the are in it for the long run, they know that the dreadlocked Muppet in front of them now will some day come, cap in hand looking for a credit extension for what ever....
Of course the record companies could say that by the time these "cyber pirates" start to put their money where there mouth is the out-moded business model they now use will be part of every business 101 class on how NOT to do business.
A few posters mentioned why don't the Uni(versities) get behind the students, if their uni is anything like mine (www.dcu.ie) then students are a necessary inconvenience that must be tolerated in order to continue to receive revenue to fund the construction of white elephantesque structures, what seats and space in the library, naw we don't think that is needed.
--My sig is bigger than your sig--
"All the RIAA needs to do is note the date/time and IP and we can trace that back to a specific student and disciplinary procedures WILL happen. Problem is, the RIAA doesn't get personal satisfaction."
Universities are not court systems. If the RIAA wants to prosecute a student for violating federal law, they can and will. FERPA cannot protect a student from being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and it also cannot keep law enforcement agencies from obtaining the information from the University given they have the proper warrants.
Just because 100,000 people downloaded Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gee's last week doesn't mean that 100,000 people would have gone out and bought it. I bet you 1,000 people wouldn't have gone out and bought it. Then the RIAA complains that they have lost money on 100,000 albums.
In my (limited) knowledge of serious internet piracy (40Gb+ a day) in which 'release groups' distribute the latest rips of films and music. The only way this is possible is over, at the bare minimum, a 10Mbit connection, which unless you want to shell out an awefull lot of cash, is only practicaly available to Uni students (and maybe sysadmin in larger companies). Concequently the majority of these high volume sites are run by students.
;-)
At this rate of data you are getting ~600hrs of music or ~ 55hrs of film per day (~25hrs/hr and 2hrs/hr respectively). Which is obviously totally impractical for personal watching/listening purposes (not to mention the storage issues). The motivation for the release groups and sites is that they want to be seen as 'l33t' and get the releases of whatever it is they are interested in the fastest. Most of the stuff I dare say is deleted without even being reviewed.
My point, is that taking each student to court, especially those putting a couple of songs on a website is futile. If they encouraged the Uni sysadmin to run a few more bandwidth checks they would take out the problem at source (I dare say it's not hard to spot when one IP takes up several percent of the whole universities usage).
But don't tell them that,
I like watching futurama before it's aired
(I dare say 40GB a day is not the amount traded by the largest sites, but it gives a ball park, for most uni scale operations)
My spelling isn't bad, I'm evolving the language
I have only bought one CD since the Metallica/Napster debacle, and the RIAA is still there. The problem is that you and I aren't their cash source anymore, it's the #^%&%^ middle-school kids dropping their allowance on a new Britney Spears CD every week.
0 1 - just my two bits