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Judge: Schools Don't Have to Help Music Industry
peg0cjs writes "www.canoe.ca reports that a federal magistrate has ruled that two North Carolina universities do not have to reveal the identities of two students accused of sharing copyrighted music on the Internet. U.S. Magistrate Judge Russell A. Eliason ruled that the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University do not need to cooperate with the RIAA in identifying two students accused of music piracy. The two unnamed students, who go by the aliases "hulk" and "CadillacMan", allegedly used University computer systems to distribute copyrighted material. The lawyer for one student said, 'We would never condone music piracy. What we're interested in is the rights of the individual -- privacy rights being protected.'"
I don't think your implication is accurate here. Nowhere in the summary or FA did it say the school "felt that way." On the contrary most colleges unfortunately have been all to eager to help the RIAA in whatever way they can. There is nothing preventing them from simply turning over the information anyway. There could be any number of reasons why they may still want to (they don't approve of the activity, they wish to avoid further legal problems with the RIAA, it's part of their network service agreement, etc.).
anyone care to explain?
http://www.rayn.net . Funny. Stuff.
I'm glad someone's standing up for pirates, but couldn't you use the same argument (privacy) these schools are using to defend withholding the names of people running a kiddie porn ring or some other illegal activity? They should address the IP issues instead of using privacy as the standard by which their actions are to be judged. This could be an opportunity to take a stand and make a statement instead of a ruling that will be overturned. Thoughts?
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I think quite a few students might think twice about a university if they read a story about it turning people in to the RIAA. Unfortunately the RIAA have no need to worry about publicity because they don't deal with consumers.
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Evil will always triumph because good is dumb. Evil will always succeed because people think this way.
Evil will often succeed because people don't realize the true nature of evil, being not some vague monster under the bed or biblical creature, but far worse. Rather, it is the mere ability of any and all human beings to delude themselves into thinking that their actions are undeniably moral in some scope, and that the ends unquestionably justify the means.
True evil is so insideous because any one of us can succumb to it out of our desire to improve ourselves or the world around us.
But I'd bet this was one of the expedited subpeonas the DMCA allows - the ones that are complete and utter bullshit, and are routinely struck down by courts.
If the RIAA were to actually file John Doe lawsuits, they could get a real subpeona, and this wouldn't be an issue at all.
But filing a real lawsuit costs more than filling in the boxes on a form.
The students didn't steal anything either. They made unlawful copies.
Or maybe not. The RIAA isn't exactly known for gathering accurate evidence. I doubt they could prove any infringement - at most, they might be able to show the students offered files named after popular songs (which could be trademark infrigement), but how could they prove the students actually distributed the files, and that the files really contained the RIAA's copyrighted work?
Judges should make the RIAA provide some real evidence (like sniffer logs) before they issue any subpoenas.
But the university isn't a person (in the legal sense) and has no ability to "witness" anything, does it?
Sure, as an institution it has (presumably)AUPs that say the students shouldn't do anything illegal - anyone know what penalties the university states for such activities? - but that doesn't mean they have to hand anything over to the RIAA when they show up demanding names numbers and dates. Presumably they would simply cut the students' acounts off.
As far as I'm aware here in New Zealand the ISPs need to be handed an actual search warrant by the police before they'll open up their logs, regardless of whether it's kiddie porn, P2P or whatever. We have a different approach to privacy though than most countries (the NZ Privacy Act is very nicely worded) and it seems to work ok, but it means I don't know a great deal about the US model.
This whole "The RIAA lays criminal charges" thing is bogus too - the RIAA isn't a law enforcement arm, no matter whether they have RIAA written on their jackets or not. It always gets my goat.
Still, copyright is being viewed more as a criminal activity by those in charge these days... they're putting it on a par with breaking into a house to steal someone's CD collection. Rightly or wrongly, this is becoming a criminal issue not a civil one.
I am a leaf on the wind
Remember, the unenumerated "right to privacy" is the foudation of Roe Vs Wade, maybe if we start to frame the dispute as the RIAA trying to eliminate the right to privacy as a precursor to an assault on the "right to choose" we can get people who care nothing for digital rights, but have deep pockets, to come on board in the fight.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
With new legislation here coming across Bush's desk in the next little while, I'm getting a little tired of all the attention given to the RIAA and the MPAA. My brother was killed by a drunk driver five years ago. Where are the corporate sponsored programs to educate kids in public schools not to drink and drive with the hyped up press coverage to match? Where is the new federal legislation to make stiffer penalties for drunk drivers? Obviously, everybody has a cause, and I'm simplifying matters to make a point, but the overemphasis on the poor RIAA and MPAA is really odious.
I read so many anti-Bush comments on this site, and certainly Republicans like Hatch helped make this mess, but Democrats drink from the RIAA & MPAA Kool-aid too...as well as the ignorant press. All I want is a little balance.
The Splintered Mind - Overcoming
You have to understand the entire system of the United States is to protect the citizenry from a violation of rights. If you're rights are violated in the gathering of evidence, then that evidence is moot, and is inadmisable in court. If the government is going to get you thrown in jail or put you at a disadvantage (in this case ruling in favor of RIAA) then they have the duty of due process. Just because some one took something that wasn't their's doesn't mean that the person doing the taking forfiets their rights. That is part of liberty and freedom. And the right to privacy is a protected right under the Ten Amendment as affirmed by the courts. If you do are doing something illegal, and the right to privacy shields the view of that act, then you can not be forced to reveal your identity if unless that act committed in private has public consquences (for example, the unenforceable sex laws that legislate what is legal or illegal in the bed room have been ruled illegal on the grounds that they violate the right to privacy and the acts committed do not have a public consquence. This principle is how a meth lab can be shut down or a child pornographer is stopped.) Anyhow, I would love to read the issues and how the issues of privacy came into play. I would be willing to bet that the reason the judge ruled in favor of the students was because of some agreement between the students and the school. However, the AUP of UNC reads, "Users have no Constitutional expectation of privacy in any information on the UNCP technology infrastructure. " With such an explicit statment I would be willing to argue that there are larger issues than what appears on face value.
The views expressed are mine own and do not express the views of my employer.
If colleges and universities allow themselves to be drawn into being the RIAA and MPAA's copyright cops, they will have to forget about educating anyone, because there will be no time for being anything but copyright cops. Higher education has always been about the free flow of ideas, not locking them up as property, and locking ideas up as property is what copyright does.
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