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TMCNet: Northeastern U.: RIAA backs away from past legal tactics

[January 05, 2009]

Northeastern U.: RIAA backs away from past legal tactics

(U-Wire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
UWIRE-01/05/2009-Northeastern U.: RIAA backs away from past legal
tactics (C) 2008 The Northeastern News via UWIRE

By Jeanine Budd, The Northeastern News (Northeastern U.)

BOSTON -- Since 1999, when former Northeastern student Shawn Fanning
ignited popular peer-to-peer file sharing by developing Napster in his
residence hall, the phenomenon has spread from the NU campus outward
like an unstoppable epidemic.

Consequently, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
assumed policing duties in 2003 to combat so-called "pirates," but has
changed its strategy in the latest chapter of its prolonged effort to
prevent the practice.

After suing more than 35,000 people during its nearly five-year long
crusade, the RIAA recently announced that it will adopt a more mild
policy in lieu of wielding mass lawsuits against illegal file sharers.
Instead, they will use Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as official
conduits. When illegal file sharing or downloading is detected, the
ISP, not the RIAA, will contact the culprit via e-mail, requesting they
stop after the first of two warnings. If the user does not stop after
the second warning, the ISP will slow down service or cut it off all
together, according to recent media reports.

According to the reports, the RIAA itself came under scrutiny during
its onslaught of lawsuits, managing to sue several single mothers, a
13-year-old girl and person who had died.

"Only time will tell if this will actually be effective," said Marcus
Breen, a communications studies professor at Northeastern. "It could be
a total waste of time. It's really an attempt to keep the music
industry alive, when they might be better off to put the [industry] out
of its misery."

The RIAA maintains its fight against illegal music downloading is for
the good of the music industry.

"We have all seen the effects illegal downloading has had on Music Row
- too many record stores have been shuttered and too many songwriters
are out of the business of writing songs," said RIAA CEO and Chairman,
Mitch Bainwol, in a recent RIAA press release.

Breen said the music industry is suffering after having experienced
success in the '70s and '80s and has recently taken to following policy
that may alienate music fans.

"The music industry tends to resort to threat," Breen said. "Their
first reaction is to threaten legal action."

Northeastern students are no strangers to aggressive RIAA tactics.

Last winter, while Erin Cheek was living in the international residence
hall at 153 Hemenway St., she said she received an aggressively worded
e-mail, forwarded along through the university and signed by
representatives at the RIAA.

"I was a very active downloader," admitted the sophomore international
affairs and human services major. "I love music, so I was downloading
probably over 100 songs a day. I just like to check out bands to see if
I like them, and maybe I will actually buy their music."

Although Cheek said she was regularly downloading everything from
classic rock to contemporary indie via Limewire, the song that got her
in trouble - named by the RIAA in their letter - wasn't on her hard

drive.

"After that, I don't use [peer-to-peer file sharing programs] anymore,"
she said. "They were like, 'This is the first warning.' If it happened
again, they would have been able to sue me, basically."

In the past, the RIAA has charged some students thousands of dollars
and taken those who didn't pay to court. In late 2005, the RIAA accused
MIT graduate Cassi Hunt of sharing 272 songs. The non-negotiable
settlement price they provided was $3,750.

Some schools willingly provide the RIAA and Motion Picture Association
of America (MPAA) with the names of students whose IP addresses have
been linked to illegal activity, said Tom Leary, a help-desk supervisor
at Infocommons. But he said Northeastern has never entered into such an
agreement with either organization.

"We don't really get involved if the RIAA or MPAA petition for
information about students," Leary said.

Instead, Northeastern would only forfeit the information if a subpoena
was filed. Bearing in mind the recent change in RIAA policy, Leary said
he doesn't foresee any change in Northeastern's approach - even though
Northeastern is the official ISP of all its on-campus students.

Bob Weir, vice president of Information Services at Northeastern, said
that while he had no comment on the RIAA's actions, students need to be
aware they are responsible for how they choose to use ResNet.

Although the RIAA's new warning system might seem more fair to
students, Cheek said she preferred the process by which she was
contacted - even though it could have concluded with her shelling out
an inordinate amount of money.

"People might not take [the threat] as seriously if they have multiple
chances - one warning and then a consequence is probably most
effective," she said. "And it was more effective for me that I would
actually get sued, than maybe lose Internet access. I can use a
computer elsewhere."

- News staff Dani Capalbo

contributed to this report.

##30##

((Distributed on bahalf of U-Wire via M2 Communications Ltd -
http://www.m2.com))
((U-Wire - http://www.uwire.com))

Copyright ? 2009 U-Wire

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