Higher Education Committee Releases Report on P2P

djeaux writes "The Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities has released a "Background Discussion of Copyright Law and Potential Liability for Students Engaged in P2P File Sharing on University Networks." The Joint Committee includes representatives from a number of universities, education groups, entertainment industry representatives, and the presidents of RIAA & MPAA. The paper provides an overview of copyright law relating to on-campus P2P file sharing and concludes that "(c)olleges and universities generally do not have a legal duty to control students' private conduct. Students therefore should not assume that their college or university will accept liability for them or provide them with legal representation." The report was distributed to presidents of all institutions that are members of the American Council on Education on Friday, August 8."

Comments

All fine and good

[Lane.exe]

...until an *AA bot nails a student in the music or computer science departments for sharing files legally. Then this little philosophy goes right out the window.

Re:What a concept!

[axxackall]

If you can't afford to police a network you're responsible for, shut it down.

I guess we should shut the whole Internet down - just to be sure.

If you really want to distribute legal files, use another method - FTP server, web server, whatever.

What if he wants to let other users to share their legal files? He just don't have a chance to check everyone.

What if I want to invite to my child's birthday party other classmates with their parents, should I ask them to bring the papers from the police that they are not criminals or should I just shut the whole party down?

You are wrong. Everyone is responsible only for own actions. If there is a law making me responsible for the other's actions - that law is anti-constitutional and can be defeated. If some organization is abusing such laws - that can be defeated. And if I cannot defeat myself against anti-constitutaional laws and actions - I should leave the country where the constitution is not more than a piece of paper.

BTW, it's exactly what I did right after 9/11. The Canadian winter might be colder, but at least my constitutional rights are protected better. Even if I am not a Canadian (yet).