Online Quiz As a Gateway to P2P

Andy Guess points out an interesting approach taken by a Missouri university to limiting (and limiting legal exposure because of) on-campus, on-line copyright violations, as described at Inside Higher Ed: "In order to download (or upload) files on any peer-to-peer network whatsoever, all on-campus users at Missouri S&T have to pass an online quiz on copyright infringement. But not just once. Passing the test — with a perfect score — enables peer-to-peer access for six hours on the user's on-campus registered machines."

Comments

Are there ways around it?

[The Ancients]

How long before some smart kids come up with a script to automatically complete the quiz? (and possibly sell it to fellow students)

What a lost opportunity

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

all on-campus users at Missouri S&T have to pass an online quiz on copyright infringement

If I headed this university, I'd make my students take quizzes on math, chemistry, physics and whatever else the university teaches, to get access to P2P. I mean, if they want their music bad enough, they'd have a great incentive to do well at school.

But quizzes on copyright infringement? talk about brainwashing. As if they had nothing more productive to cram their brains with. Sheesh... On top of it, it's a trap: if a student is caught downloading illegal material, he can't claim ignorance.

All in all, a rotten idea that could have been a great one. You can feel the twisted minds of **AA execs behind this sorry scheme...

Re:test eh?

[cjb658]

I've got a better idea: let's require everyone to pass a test before using the internet at all.

(brb, selling MySpace stock)

Re:Question 1

[Darkness404]

Exactly, these questions that will surely be asked on the test will try to make it seem like copyright infringement is stealing as much as 2+2=4 rather then asking a moral question that can be taken either way. I am surprised to see that whenever a professor expresses views that might be objectionable the media attacks them, but with "piracy" they seem to make it seem like it is stealing when it clearly is not.

If the question is why is stealing bad, the answer would be that the person being stolen from doesn't have what got stolen. For example if someone stole your car, the bad part wouldn't be that someone has a new car but rather you don't have a car. With piracy though its the opposite, for downloading a song no one has any less songs as they can be copied and you have a new song, the RIAA seem to punish the fact you have a new song rather then the infinite supply of songs is running out. This seems to beg the question, if we can ever create a replicator that will make a perfect copy of things without doing any harm to the original will making a new item be called stealing? Because, has history is showing us, in a way that already has happened just with music and not physical goods.

Re:Question 1

[orclevegam]

When you appropriate that work without their permission, they no longer have the privilege granted to them by law. You are, in fact, taking something away from them. Which is of course an illegal act with a specific name of copyright infringement. It is not stealing as that applies to physical goods. Depriving a person of a right is not stealing that right from them as by definition it's impossible to "steal" a right. Normally I wouldn't argue semantics, but in this case it's a valid point because of the extreme social stigma attached to theft. I don't think anyone is arguing over the legality of copyright infringement (or stealing for that matter), what's under question however is the morality of it. Even more to the point, is the question of whether all copyright infringement is immoral, or only some, or only in certain quantities. Would downloading a copy of last weeks sitcoms because you were busy and missed seeing them carry the same weight as downloading a couple CDs because you want to listen to them? What about downloading an artists entire library? Is it less moral to download an independent artist CDs versus those of a major record label?