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RIAA Apologizes for Incorrect Infringement Notice
theradixhunter writes "News.com is reporting that the RIAA has apologized to the Pennsylvania State University for sending a threatening letter making an incorrect allegations of copyright violations. It appears that the automated system that the RIAA uses picked the term "Usher" and the extenstion ".mp3" on an FTP site hosting the work of Professor Emeritus Peter Usher and falsely assumed that the files were songs by the musician Usher. The university accepted the apology saying "that this was an honest mistake by the recording industry" and Spokesman Tysen Kendig said Penn State "remains committed to working closely with the RIAA"."
I'd be happy if the RIAA deleted every file in the world containing the strings 'Usher' and 'mp3'. Sure, there could be innocent casualties, but think of the lives that would be saved...
Is the RIAA going to pay for the legal fees the university incurred? Or the time they could have used to educate their students rather than going on a wild goose chase? I rather doubt it.
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
Once again, I feel it's appropriate to slam MediaForce and their gang of sleazebag nerds that write the software that does this.
For shame....
I have nothing better to do while waiting for a kernel to compile, so...
I find it to be the usual government style of action: act first, apologize later. They send out threat form letters to anyone who might be violating their stupid-*** laws, and then when they find they're wrong, they throw out a whoops, and they're done. There is something very wrong with that picture.
(-:Stephonovich:-)
"Who needs reincarnation when we've got parallel universes?" -Me
Why should the RIAA check their "sources"? They're making a lot of money/press by blackmail and coercion.
Just a matter of time before they pick on the wrong people.
It would be interesting to see how many time the RIAA systems access servers with restricted use policies: "Ve haf found der pirate!!!!" "No, you've trespassed on the private server of esquires Anastacia Lopez and Santana Aguilera of the law firm that prosecuted the tobacco settlement. Pay up."
That makes it what, roughly a billion or so to go until they've atoned for stifling creativity and ruining music? Anyway, what kind of company would use software that sends out cease and desist letters automatically? Shouldn't there be at least SOME human intervention? That way, someone could say, "Hey, I've never heard of this Professor Usher. Did we just sign him? Maybe we should look into this. Or at least, I dunno...listen to the file first?"
...because we know how he accepts apologies!
"We have withdrawn, and apologize for, the DMCA notice that had been sent to Penn State University in error. In order to safeguard against errors like this one, we have individuals look at each and every notice we send out. In this particular instance, a temp employee made a mistake and did not follow RIAA's established protocol, and we regret any inconvenience this may have caused. We are currently reviewing any other notices this temp may have sent."
I think by "temp employee," they mean to say the person responsible is now fired. Doesn't sound like the RIAA really took responsibility for the incident either, but rather placed the blame on John Doe.
Penn acted as spineless morons.
They should have slapped the RIAA fools with a libel lawsuit and requested an injunction to keep RIAA away from their computers forever or else. Then, only then, settled out of court if needed.
You can't even trust academia to defend their own these days. Sheesh.
--
Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/
Worst apology ever.
The RIAA suing a professor for violating the copyright of a band named Usher, for which they should be getting sued to death by the heirs of Edgar Allen Poe.
Ahem, no matter what I predict we will see the Fall of the House of Usher...
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
And it would also appear that simply using a phony filename extension will be enough to fool the "automated system." From now on, I and all my partners in tune trading criminal activities will use .RIAA to denote classic .mp3, and .MPAA instead of .mpg or .mpeg, but only on even numbered days. Other times we'll switch 'em around. That oughta hold 'em off for a while.
Oops! Did I just divulge a circumvention technique? Will I be liable for prosecution under DMCA or US-PATRIOT or some other silly-ass law?
.nosig
is there any database of RIAA server IP's or their minions? Just on general principles I would like to block them all. Their actions are damn close to illegal search and seizure, at least IMHO.
I have a friend named Billy G. Metallica-Sucks.
Ok maybe not. I don't really have any friends.
This gives me a great idea. Just like RIAA/MPAA is flooding p2p networks with fake files we could flood their search methods with fake files.
If every internet user with a webpage hosted 2-3 blank mp3 files with names like "BritneySpears-Baby.mp3", etc... The time it would take RIAA/MPAA to find all of them and verify them as blank would flood their capabilities.
Where the Music Matters
I'm an undergrad here at Penn State. Over the past few months they have been cracking down on copyrighted materials. They emailed the following letter to every student in the University:
I have a serious message for you about making illegal copies of copyrighted material. While you may be tempted not to read this email, I suggest that you do so in order to better understand just what the risks and penalties are for violating the law.
In recent years, high-speed computer networks and personal computers have made it easy to copy computer programs, movies, and recordings. Most of this material is copyrighted, which means the right to make copies is restricted. Making copies of any copyrighted material without the right to do so is against both state and federal law and University policy. Most people who make illegal copies know it is wrong, but are unaware of how severe the penalties can be.
The US Copyright Law (Title 17 of the US Code) has very serious penalties for violations. These include significant fines for each copy. If you copy more than $1,000 worth of material, there are criminal penalties that include substantial fines of up to $250,000 and up to 10 years prison time for flagrant cases of infringement.
The software, record, and movie industries are stepping up their enforcement of copyright laws. They are using computer technology to detect those who run servers or simply download something they have no right to possess. The likelihood of being caught is growing every day, and prosecutions will become more frequent.
You may have downloaded copyrighted materials and not been caught, so you think you're safe from prosecution. I urge you to think again. Two students in Oregon were caught and prosecuted under the criminal statutes. One received a suspended two-year sentence, the other spent time in jail. A student in North Carolina spent 41 months in prison for copyright infringement. Messing up your future is a steep price to pay for music or a video.
What happens at Penn State if you are caught? By statute, the University must immediately block your network access when we receive notification that a particular computer has been involved in a violation of the law. You may also be taken to court by the copyright holder or charged in the federal courts with a crime. That is not all that can happen. You should know that falsely certifying either that you have the right to material or have removed it can result in federal perjury charges as well as copyright infringement.
What else does Penn State do? When we receive a complaint, student offenders are referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs and employees to the Office of Human Resources. Why? Because it is illegal and against University policy to infringe on someone's copyright. A student can be expelled and an employee terminated under University policy.
The bottom line is that there is a potentially high price to pay for an illegally copied computer program, movie, or recording. Stealing is stealing and against the law, regardless of how you try to justify it.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Rodney A. Erickson March 31, 2003
After the letter was sent 220 students were served notices from the Judicial Affairs Office. You can read more about it in the school newspaper. school newspaper. In the article it says, "Rodack said it can take only one complaint against a student before dorm Internet connection is shut down and he or she is investigated."
Has anyone else seen the same pattern at their school? Is this par for the course?
Can this post get any longer?
::breathes::
::breathes:: in ::breathes:: the ::breathes:: name ::breathes:: of ::breathes:: the ::breathes:: force ::breathes:: do ::breathes:: you ::breathes:: think ::breathes:: you're ::breathes:: doing? ::breathes::
::breathes::
::breathes:: What
::outstretches hand::
Penn State is working closely with the RIAA because Barry Robinson a lawyer for the RIAA is on the Board of Trustees so instead of representing the interests of the university and protecting the students, Penn State president Grahm Spanier has chosen to let a trustee influence university policy for the sake of the crooked organization he works for. I should post this AC but I really dont give an fsck. Penn State is dedicated to building unnecessary buildings while removing as much parking as possible. I now have to walk 20 mins from a staff parking lot to work so fire me before I die of heat stroke this summer ;)
Notice the Prof is now looking into the excess dammage by the DMCA and is contacting Congress? We need more of these to hit Congress.
The truth shall set you free!
This reminds me of a joke:
Jason has a conversation with his new neighbour Pete:
J: So what do you do?
P: I teach deducive logic.
J: Huh?
P: Let me demonstrate. Do you have a dog?
J: Yes.
P: From this I deduce that you have a family?
J: Yeah.
P: And a wife?
J: Yeah.
P: And if you have a wife, I deduce that you are heterosexual.
J: That's amazing!
After this Jason visits his friend Chris:
J: I just found out this awesome field called deducive logic.
C: Say what?
J: Let me demonstrate. Do you have a dog?
C: No.
J: Then you must be gay.
boldly going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse
Hit them. In the face. Hard.
When asked why, respond, "You look like someone who owed me money. Guess not. Sorry. Here's a Ultimate Fighting Championship T-shirt and DVD."
It's great to be on board with the tactics used by our friendly copyright holders! Go Team!
Don't those DMCA threaten & harass letters almost always include a statement along the lines of: "I hereby swear, under penalty of PERJURY, than I am the copyright holder or the legal representative therof."???
Said statement was obviously NOT true in this case, and I don't think those letters include a disclamier like: "unless I get CAUGHT lieing, and apologize afterward".
So do those "swear under penalty of perjury" clauses have any real legal validity? If so, isn't it appropiate for some RIAA/Metallica drones to be shareing bunkspace with Charlie Manson in the very near future? After all, when a regular citizen does it, perjury is a pretty BIG deal. Why should the RIAA/Metallica enjoy any immunity?
Or are those lines not, in any way, legally binding? If that's the case, why include them at all?
cya,
john
Imagine all the people...
For those who want to use PeerGuardian, here's how:
n text.asp for the plaintext list of ranges to block.
1. Download PG from here: http://methlabs.org/pg/
2. Install it.
3. Edit "C:\Program Files\PeerGuardian\Guarding.P2P" in a text editor.
4. Go to http://www.simply-click.org/uploadertest/pg2_plai
5. Copy and Paste it into the Guarding.P2P file. It must have no empty lines at the beginning of the file, and must have at least one blank line at the end of the file.
You may want to leave off the last few lines from that webpage, this is a submission type of thing, and new submissions are added to the bottom of the list. Delete the bad lines from morons and such at the end. They get onto the list every so often.
6. Startup PG and make sure it reads in the block list correctly.
Congratulations, you're now blocking all TCP connections with over 50 million IP addresses, most of which are probably "the bad guys". I don't generally steal music or offer up music, I just don't like these people and so I block them on principle.
Also, PeerGuardian supports a pgdat:// type of link, so as new addresses are changed, you can click the links on http://www.simply-click.org/uploadertest/pg2.asp to add them to PeerGuardian directly instead of manually editing the blockfile.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
cat /dev/urandom > /var/www/Britney_Spears_-_Greatest_Hits_Track01.mp 3
of course, that might actually be the same command they use to create their "music"
If bad puns were like deli meat, this would be the wurst
in other news, professor bob metallica is still waiting for his apology.
If you mod me down the terrorists will have won