2008 Woodie Awards
University should not succumb to RIAA's strong-arm tactics
Kyle Kernan
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: Soap Box
Four months ago, I received an e-mail on FirstClass from a lawyer who represented the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The letter implicated my IP address here at the University of Maine in copyright infringement and said that the user of this address had to pay a $3,000 settlement or await the RIAA to bring the case to federal court, where he or she would be asked to settle for an amount of $250,000.
They did not know my name; they just had an IP address. The first e-mail I received was not even a direct subpoena, but a threatening letter that was directed through the IT Department and then to me. The letter from the RIAA came as an attachment on the e-mail from an IT representative who wrote me a message riddled with ambiguity.
The IT member, representing the University of Maine, presented me with no clear explanation as to the validity of this letter; they simply wrote to me, "view this message with extreme acknowledgment and consideration." The IT Department, I thought, found this e-mail to be a scam, and my family and friends thought the same as well. If I was being sued due to downloading music, wouldn't I be given a hard copy through the mail about it, and addressed to my name? Wouldn't I even be given a warning?
A few weeks ago I received another letter notifying me that the university had to give the RIAA my name and information and the settlement had now reached $4,000. These are just a few examples of the RIAA's frivolous steps of coercion.
Dean of Students Robert Dana had notified me that the RIAA could sue the university if they did not release the names. However, based upon my research, the RIAA has never sued a university.
The RIAA is also monopolizing their efforts by obtaining the most amount of money possible by pooling these John Does together in one subpoena. This is illegal based upon the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 20. The University of Maine should account for this rule and throw out the RIAA's subpoena on students until they come after their IP addresses individually.
They did not know my name; they just had an IP address. The first e-mail I received was not even a direct subpoena, but a threatening letter that was directed through the IT Department and then to me. The letter from the RIAA came as an attachment on the e-mail from an IT representative who wrote me a message riddled with ambiguity.
The IT member, representing the University of Maine, presented me with no clear explanation as to the validity of this letter; they simply wrote to me, "view this message with extreme acknowledgment and consideration." The IT Department, I thought, found this e-mail to be a scam, and my family and friends thought the same as well. If I was being sued due to downloading music, wouldn't I be given a hard copy through the mail about it, and addressed to my name? Wouldn't I even be given a warning?
A few weeks ago I received another letter notifying me that the university had to give the RIAA my name and information and the settlement had now reached $4,000. These are just a few examples of the RIAA's frivolous steps of coercion.
Dean of Students Robert Dana had notified me that the RIAA could sue the university if they did not release the names. However, based upon my research, the RIAA has never sued a university.
The RIAA is also monopolizing their efforts by obtaining the most amount of money possible by pooling these John Does together in one subpoena. This is illegal based upon the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 20. The University of Maine should account for this rule and throw out the RIAA's subpoena on students until they come after their IP addresses individually.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Ray Beckerman
posted 12/08/07 @ 11:31 AM EST
I agree with you Kyle. I've detected a pattern, too. The RIAA is trying to stay away from places where they might get resistance. I just submitted an article to Slashdot on that theme:
http://slashdot. (Continued…)
ryan
posted 12/09/07 @ 2:40 AM EST
Oh poor boy. You broke the law. You knew you were breaking the law. And you are getting due process. It's a shame the university isn't going after you for violating the conduct code. (Continued…)
Jacob Powers
posted 12/12/07 @ 12:00 PM EST
The RIAA is after us. They are losing a lot of money on account of the internets rise in popularity in the past decade. The dam broke a long time ago. (Continued…)
Jacob Powers
Jacob Powers
posted 12/12/07 @ 12:02 PM EST
The RIAA is after us. They are losing a lot of money on account of the internets rise in popularity in the past decade. The dam broke a long time ago. (Continued…)
C
posted 12/13/07 @ 2:53 AM EST
The RIAA has been proven to use cheap tactics when combatting the "threat" of online piracy, threat in quotations because they still make in a single hour what I will the rest of my life doing something thats actually productive and conducive for living in society. (Continued…)
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