College Demands RIAA Pay Up For Wasting Its Time

An anonymous reader writes "We've already seen the University of Wisconsin tell the RIAA to go away, but the University of Nebaska has gone one step further: it's asking the RIAA to pay up for wasting its time with the silly demand to push students into paying up. The spokesperson for the University also notes that since they constantly rotate IP addresses and have no need to hang onto that information for very long, they simply cannot help the RIAA. They have no clue who was attached to which IP address at the time the RIAA is complaining about."

Comments

Perhaps

[rblancarte]

I think that we are seeing that people are finally getting fed up with the RIAA. Their tactics are quasi-illegal, and their manners are boorish. Maybe 2007 is the year that people finally get wise and stand up to the RIAA. A few losses in court, which IMHO are pretty much a slam dunk, and I think we will see the RIAA have to stand down this attack on music consumers.

What has disappointed me was the fact that no one has stood up to them before to finally beat them in court. There has to be a first case and once there is, it will set the precedent.

RonB

What I wrote in their support

[Just Some Guy]

Here's the letter I wrote to the president of UNL, the chancellor, each of the regents, and the CIO (Mr. Weir):

College is the time for many children to grow into adults by learning to make their own decicions, often for the first time in their lives. Access to information about those decisions is important, and the ability to get it anonymously is critical. No boy wants his friends to know that he was contemplating suicide. No girls wants to be seen asking about sexually transmitted diseases. Unless they know that their questions can't be tracked back to them, most kids won't ask them.

Walter Weir's IT policies contribute to the atmosphere of open learning that a university, of all places, should strive to attain. Now, some group from Hollywood wants UNL to overhaul its computer network for the explicit purpose of destroying that, simply to serve ends that the school has no real reason to care about. As a computer scientist and a Nebraska taxpayer, I have these additional problems with their request:

1) I am not interested in seeing my money used to persecute kids for trading songs, much as you and I traded tapes with our friends when we were younger.

2) IP addresses are traceable to computers, not people. If two or more kids share a computer, who gets the cease-and-desist notice? The RIAA has a history of doing asinine things like suing dead grandmothers; yes, that really happened. I'd much rather see UNL say that their requests can't be answered than to get involved in such foolish and expensive unpleasantry.

3) Again, the current system works and I see no reason to change it to benefit one outside group with dubious interests. Computer networks are hard to build, and harder to build well. Mr. Weir's department has done a fine job and he should not be made to enact its destruction.

Just say no to the RIAA. We have a system that serves us - the citizens, taxpayers, and students of Nebraska - very well. UNL's network is meant for the education and personal growth of its users. It is not meant to be the unpaid police force for an outside party with no concern for our needs.

I got several replies of agreement, and I think that the school will be holding its ground.

GO HUSKERS!

Re:U of Nebraska = Haven for Hackers?

[nutznboltz2003]

UNL's network is open on the student side. You can run servers, game servers, web cams, whatever the hell you want. The thing is though, if you get caught, and they can prove who you are, they toss your sorry butt to the wolves. The student side is much more open the the restricted faculty/staff/admin side. A student plugging their machine into that side is likely to get caught pretty quickly.

I'm also pretty sure that the IP is kept longer then they admit. I have friends attending UNL and they have had the same IP all year. It did not even change when they went home for x-mas break. I think they have the ability to help the RIAA if they want, but with all the bad press, and Nebraska's need for recruiting out-of-state students, this is the perfect publicity stunt. "Come to Nebraska and leech without fear of being turned in".

Overall, I think they are no more a haven for hackers than any other large University. Most seem to have the attitude of "do what you want, but don't get caught".