RIAA Recommends Students Drop out of College

boarder8925 writes "An MIT student accused of copyright infringement has been documenting her struggles with the RIAA. Upon trying to negotiate her settlement, a representative told her that "the RIAA has been known to suggest that students drop out of college or go to community college in order to be able to afford settlements.""

Comments

Debtors Prison

[PhYrE2k2]

To put this into context for anyone who's thinking "huh?"

Bad debtors were once jailed within 'Debtors Prison', being removed as functional members of society, until their debts were paid. Once this was proved to be ineffective, and as modern considerations on fair rights came to play, an effect coined as 'The Race of the Swiftest' occurred. Creditors would, upon learning of a company's misfortune, take legal action against a debtor and be granted a portion of the company's assets in compensation for their debts. While this was reasonably effective for such creditors, there was no remedy for those creditors who were not as 'swift' to learn of the insolvency soon enough.

As a result of this unfairness, various governments introduced Bankruptcy, such as Canada's 'Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act' and the US's 'Bankruptcy Act' (Chapter 11). The intention of these is to balance all interests, while being fair. They are all, in one form or another, intended to (a) give an honest but unfortunate debtor a 'fresh start' by relieving of them of the burden of most of their debts, and (b) to repay creditors in an orderly and fair manner using the resources of the debtor (read: liquidate assets and distribute to creditors based on a fair order of security and distributed evenly within each class).

Just in case debtors prison sounds confusing :)

-M

Re:RIAA has some learning to do

[cpt kangarooski]

Ah, I haven't seen anyone misread 1008 in the usual way for a little while. It's refreshing. Wrong, but refreshing.

The key to 1008 in this context is that there has to be the use of a digital audio recording device or digital audio recording medium. The question is, what are those things? Well, we have some important definitions in 1001. Usually the sort of person who cites 1008 will always forget to have checked 1001, to make sure that 1008 actually says what it appears on first glance to say.

(1) A "digital audio copied recording" is a reproduction in a digital recording format of a digital musical recording, whether that reproduction is made directly from another digital musical recording or indirectly from a transmission.

(3) A "digital audio recording device" is any machine or device of a type commonly distributed to individuals for use by individuals, whether or not included with or as part of some other machine or device, the digital recording function of which is designed or marketed for the primary purpose of, and that is capable of, making a digital audio copied recording for private use, except for--
(A) professional model products, and
(B) dictation machines, answering machines, and other audio recording equipment that is designed and marketed primarily for the creation of sound recordings resulting from the fixation of nonmusical sounds.

(4)(A) A "digital audio recording medium" is any material object in a form commonly distributed for use by individuals, that is primarily marketed or most commonly used by consumers for the purpose of making digital audio copied recordings by use of a digital audio recording device.
(B) Such term does not include any material object--
(i) that embodies a sound recording at the time it is first distributed by the importer or manufacturer; or
(ii) that is primarily marketed and most commonly used by consumers either for the purpose of making copies of motion pictures or other audiovisual works or for the purpose of making copies of nonmusical literary works, including computer programs or data bases.

(5)(A) A "digital musical recording" is a material object--
(i) in which are fixed, in a digital recording format, only sounds, and material, statements, or instructions incidental to those fixed sounds, if any, and
(ii) from which the sounds and material can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.
(B) A "digital musical recording" does not include a material object--
(i) in which the fixed sounds consist entirely of spoken word recordings, or
(ii) in which one or more computer programs are fixed, except that a digital musical recording may contain statements or instructions constituting the fixed sounds and incidental material, and statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in order to bring about the perception, reproduction, or communication of the fixed sounds and incidental material.
(C) For purposes of this paragraph--
(i) a "spoken word recording" is a sound recording in which are fixed only a series of spoken words, except that the spoken words may be accompanied by incidental musical or other sounds, and
(ii) the term "incidental" means related to and relatively minor by comparison.

So, in order for a computer to be a digitial audio recording device, it must have a digital recording function which is designed or marketed for the primary purpose of making digital audio copied recordings for private use.

This is not the case, however. Ordinary personal computers are general purpose devices; their digital recording functions are the same, whether the data being recorded is text, music, speech, pictures, etc. Thus, it doesn't qualify for 1008.

Similarly, in order for a hard drive to be a digital audio recording medium, it must be primarily marketed or most commonly used by consumers for the purpose of making digital audio copied recordings by use of a digital a