RIAA n You
Two recent events are likely to touch us significantly here at the UW Streaming Media community.
One is the recent decision by the University to cooperate with the RIAA as they sniff out file sharing. The penalties by the RIAA are outrageous, and clearly represent a desperate act by an organization that is not only becoming irrelevant to the musicians, but is unable to recognize the potential of new distribution opportunities. By cooperating the University has created a defacto opening of its database of users to the RIAA and will reveal not only how students are using the network, but who is using the network.
It is a difficult decision because these are public monies, and sharing music without permission is patently illegal. But privacy and the opportunity to freely pursue academic issues free from prying eyes and pressures of social fashion have always been a hallmark of this fine institution. Opening up who is using the internet and how sets a precedent that could impact research far beyond music sharing. What if I am dong research on late term abortion, or pornography, or imigration, or social drug use, or voting patterns, or lobbyists, or any other controversial subject? If someone in power says, "Hey, I don't want tuition or tax dollars going to that sort of thing, you have to stop it," the University would be hard pressed to say, "Oh, no. We don't cooperate with those sorts of witch hunts." Hey, they have agreed to do it with the RIAA. This precedent risks setting a pernicious benchmark, and how can you close the door once you have made this exception? I can see the logic of the University’s position, but it smells of corporate lawyers and the lack of a spine. Sad really.
The other news from the RIAA is the recent arbitration victory against Internet Radio sites. Because an arbitration committee in Washington DC drastically increased the licensing fees Internet radio sites must pay to stream songs, radio sites chose today, June 26th, as a day of silence. Sites like my personal favorite, Pandora, will see their fees will triple, and are retroactive for eighteen months. You can find more information here on the day of silence.
Comments
In your example, is an anti-abortion activist found objectionable activities by a university researcher, it would be a relatively easy matter for that individual to send an email, threatening or complaining, to the researcher, without any university intervention. But if the person wrote to the administration asking them to stop the research, the RIAA case cannot be used as an example, since the university administration did not intervene or communicate in any way to the students; it merely passed on the RIAA letter to them.
The university was in a tough spot. If some students had not