From Spam Daily News
While the majority of illegal copying and distribution of music and
movies occurs over the public Internet on peer-to-peer (P2P)
file-sharing systems, students at colleges and universities have been
increasingly using programs like Direct Connect (DC++), MyTunes and
OurTunes to engage in such activity on campus LANs without using the
broader public Internet.
As part of the entertainment industry's efforts to address the ongoing
theft of music and movies online by college students, the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture
Association of America (MPAA) today announced a systematic program to
identify and curtail campus Local Area Network (LAN) piracy at
universities across the country.
The perceived security and privacy of these campus LANs give many
students incentive to engage in activity they have otherwise learned
is illegal and unacceptable.
"We are appreciative of our partners in the university community and
all they have done in recent years to tackle the problem of digital
piracy at campuses across the country," said RIAA President Cary
Sherman. "Despite the progress achieved by our collaborative efforts,
this remains an ever-evolving problem. We cannot ignore the growing
misuse of campus LAN systems or the toll this means of theft is taking
on our industry. As we prioritize our focus on campus LAN piracy in
the coming year, we hope administrators will take this opportunity to
fully evaluate their systems and take action to stop theft by all
means."
MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said, "Universities are taking
action in a host of ways to address the problem of piracy on
campus. We are working to provide as much information as we can to
help make those efforts effective, and to stay on top of emerging
trends in intellectual property theft. Providing information about LAN
systems serves to raise awareness and encourage action."
In letters sent today, the RIAA and MPAA notified 40 university
presidents of information indicating campus LAN piracy problems on
their campuses. The universities receiving these letters are located
in the following 25 states: California, Connecticut, Georgia,
Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine,
Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas,
Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, DC.
The letters encourage administrators to review the use of their
computer networks and, if appropriate, take steps to stop and prevent
such theft. Blocking and filtering devices are currently available to
help administrators restrict inappropriate use of a campus network.
In April 2003, the RIAA brought lawsuits against the student operators
of four campus LAN networks at three schools. In the wake those
enforcement actions, university administrators pulled down at least a
dozen campus LAN servers where music theft had been prevalent. Since
then, in addressing university file- sharing, campus LAN piracy is
increasingly identified as a key challenge by lawmakers in Congress as
well as the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment
Communities.
"Campus LAN piracy is not new, yet the problem has taken on new
urgency," Sherman said. "We know from past experience that bringing
this problem to light can effect real change. We are hopeful that this
new systematic program will yield even more positive results."
April 27, 2006
Dear President (NAME):
As you may know, the entertainment community has become
increasingly concerned about illegal file sharing on universities'
Local Area Network (LAN) using such programs as Direct Connect (DC++),
MyTunes/OurTunes (both well-known hacks of Apple's iTunes software)
and other similar programs. Our industries have recently launched a
systematic program to identify and curtail campus Local Area Network
("LAN") piracy. We write today to inform you that we have information
indicating such a problem exists at (SCHOOL).
Digital piracy, especially on campuses, is an
ever-evolving problem and it requires sustained and targeted
vigilance. There has been much attention paid to the illegal copying
and distribution of copyrighted movies and music on peer-to-peer
("P2P") file-sharing systems. While the majority of this illegal
activity occurs over the public Internet, students at colleges and
universities have been increasingly using campus LANs to set up
similar systems without using the broader public Internet. The
perceived security and privacy of these campus LANs give many students
incentive to engage in activity they have otherwise learned is illegal
and unacceptable.
The copyright community has been aware of the misuse of
campus LANs since 2003, when lawsuits were brought against students at
three schools. Yet the proliferation of these systems and the growing
share of the college piracy problem attributable to them have prompted
us to prioritize this aspect of campus piracy as a key focus for the
upcoming academic year. In the wake of previous litigation,
university administrators pulled down at least a dozen campus LAN
servers where movies and music theft had been prevalent. We are
hopeful that this new systematic program will yield even more positive
results.
Illegal activity, whether on the public Internet or a
school's local intranet, is universally troubling. In addition, these
mini-networks, while cutting down on the use of Internet bandwidth,
still use valuable university resources. Fortunately, there are steps
that administrators can take to ensure that a school's computing
network is not compromised in this way.
While illegal file-sharing on campus LANs can be difficult
to detect for those outside the school network, such activity is
detectable by school administrators. An internal investigation would
confirm whether your school's resources are being abused in this way
and would allow you to shut down activity that, in addition to being
illegal, is undoubtedly a violation of your computer-use
policies. Blocking and filtering devices -- such as RedLambda's cGrid
and Audible Magic's CopySense -- are available to help administrators
restrict inappropriate use of a campus network.
In addressing university file-sharing, campus LAN piracy
is increasingly identified as a key challenge by lawmakers in Congress
as well as the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and
Entertainment Communities. Public recognition of campus LAN piracy by
these leaders is further indication that this problem is moving to the
forefront of concern.
As you are no doubt aware, these issues are critically
important to not only us, but to all communities that value the
protection of copyright and intellectual property. We look forward to
working with you as we continue to pursue a comprehensive approach to
addressing piracy on college campuses: promoting educational efforts;
working with university administrators on technological solutions and
offering legal music and movie services; and when necessary, enforcing
our rights as appropriate.
Sincerely,
/s/
Cary H. Sherman
President
Recording Industry Association of America
/s/
Dan Glickman
Chairman and CEO
Motion Picture Association of America
SOURCE:
Spam Daily News (spam@telecom-digest.org)