Nate, Thanks for posting the article! Did your letter make it in? Let me know if you have any specific questions about starting a chapter, otherwise, just go and do it!
Best, Fred On 10/17/07, Nate Jones <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi. I hope this is the correct thing to discuss here. If not, let me > know. My univeristy, George Washington published an article about > "prelitigation letters" and lawsuits filed against GWU students. Here is a > copy of the letter and my letter to the editor in response to it. Please > help me edit/correct my letter in any way that will make it better. I hope > you can help. PS we're working on starting up a free culture chapter at GWU > :) > > > http://www.gwhatchet.com/news/2007/10/15/News/Gw.Ordered.To.Reveal.Illegal.Downloaders-3032354.shtml?reffeature=popuarstoriestab > > GW ordered to reveal illegal downloaders by * Ashley Roberts > *<http://www.gwhatchet.com/user/index.cfm?event=displayAuthorProfile&authorid=2667213> > Hatchet Staff Writer *Issue date:* 10/15/07 *Section:* > News<http://www.gwhatchet.com/news/2007/10/15/News/> > > Several record companies filed a lawsuit seeking the identities of 19 GW > students who allegedly violated copyright laws. > > An initial complaint was filed in federal court on Sept. 27 by 10 record > companies who want retribution for illegally downloaded music. On Oct. 11, > the court approved a motion ordering GW to reveal the names, addresses, > e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of the students. > > Official subpoenas have not yet been approved, but GW is required to > comply with the motion, said Cara Duckworth, a spokesperson for the > Recording Industry Association of America. > > The decision is part of a nationwide push by the recording industry to > hold people - especially students - accountable for illegally downloading > music. The RIAA sent pre-litigation notices to the University this fall - > requesting they be forwarded on to students - but the latest move represents > a step forward in the case. "Schools are required to comply when a subpoena > has been affirmatively approved by the court," Duckworth wrote in an e-mail. > > The University was unavailable for comment. > > The lawsuit goes into great detail about the alleged crimes, listing the > names of specific songs and albums downloaded off the Internet. Most of the > songs were downloaded off of Peer-to-Peer networks - especially Gnutella - > and BitTorrent. One user allegedly downloaded 3,538 songs illegally, though > most of the violations involved illegal downloads of less than 500 songs. > > There are several steps taken when the RIAA discovers IP addresses that > are downloading files illegally, Duckworth said. > > First, they send pre-litigation letters with an IP address to the school, > attempting to settle with the students at a discounted rate. > > If the students do not contact the RIAA to settle in a certain period of > time, the RIAA files a lawsuit against the anonymous students and seeks to > subpoena the schools' records. > > If the court approves the subpoena, it is typically served to the school's > general counsel. > > Each time the user fails to contact the RIAA, the fines increase. > Duckworth said the fines are still much lower than copyright law allows. > > She said that usually when students do not settle after the pre-litigation > letters, it means the University did not appropriately pass them on. > > "(G)enerally when 19 (anonymous) suits are filed on the heels of 19 > letters, it's an indication that a school may not be forwarding these > letters to the appropriate network users," Duckworth said. "In this > situation, it is a disservice to the student not to do so - actively > depriving them of the opportunity to settle the matter early on by paying a > lower fee and allowing them to avoid a potential lawsuit." > > My letter to the editor in response: > > > The Recording Industry Association of America wanted George Washington > University to do its dirty work. By issuing "pre-litigation" letters > including only ip addresses, the RIAA hoped that GWU would foot the bill for > locating the alleged file sharers. It is nonsensical for GWU, already > nearing 900 million in debt, to waste time and money to track down the > alleged .ip and .mac addresses, verify that the students who used these > addresses then are indeed the students using these addresses today, and > verify that these songs were actually downloaded. This slow, cumbersome > procedure is an ineffective and wasteful method for stopping file sharing; > among the hundreds of million file sharers worldwide, a single woman has > been found guilty in court. George Washington should not take part in this > wasteful RIAA scare campaign. The RIAA should understand the realities of > the "ctrl c ctrl v" digital world and attempt to salvage its hemorrhaging > business model rather than waste time with this frivolous attempts to punish > GW students for sharing music. > > > I'm sure it needs editing. Please help! > > Thanks, nate > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > >
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