UofO stands up to the RIAA

In the Fight Over Piracy, a Rare Stand for Privacy

The record industry got a surprise when it subpoenaed the University of
Oregon in September, asking it to identify 17 students who had made available
songs from Journey, the Cars, Dire Straits, Sting and Madonna on a
file-sharing network.

The surprise was not that 20-year-olds listen to Sting. It was that
the university fought back.

Represented by the state's attorney general, Hardy Myers, the
university filed a blistering motion to quash the subpoena, accusing the
industry of misleading the judge, violating student privacy laws and engaging
in questionable investigative practices. Cary Sherman, the president of the
Recording Industry Association of America, said the industry had seen "a lot
of crazy stuff" filed in response to its lawsuits and subpoenas. "But coming
from the office of an attorney general of a state?" Mr. Sherman asked,
incredulous. "We found it really surprising and disappointing."

No one should shed tears for people who steal music and have to face
the consequences. But it is nonetheless heartening to see a university
decline to become the industry's police officer and instead to defend the
privacy of its students.

The recording industry may not be selling as much music these days, but
it has built a pretty impressive and innovative litigation subsidiary.

In the past four years, record companies have sued tens of thousands
of people for violating the copyright laws by sharing music on the Internet.
The people it sues tend to settle, paying the industry a few thousand
dollars rather than risking a potentially ruinous judgment by fighting in
court.

"People get pushed into settlements," said Fred von Lohmann, a lawyer
with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group. "The Oregon
attorney general is showing what a real fight among equals would look like."

In his filings, Mr. Myers claimed to be looking for a middle ground.

"Certainly it is appropriate for victims of copyright infringement
to lawfully pursue statutory remedies," Mr. Myers wrote last month.
"However, that pursuit must be tempered by basic notions of privacy and due
process."

The recording industry may not be selling as much music these days, but
it has built a pretty impressive and innovative litigation subsidiary.

In the past four years, record companies have sued tens of thousands
of people for violating the copyright laws by sharing music on the
Internet. The people it sues tend to settle, paying the industry a few
thousand dollars rather than risking a potentially ruinous judgment by
fighting in court.

"People get pushed into settlements," said Fred von Lohmann, a lawyer
with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group.
"The Oregon attorney general is showing what a real fight among equals
would look like."

Gotta love that last line, that is what this whole thing is about, the RIAA
is using its huge resources to run people over, first they did it in
congress with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Now they are hammering
on individuals in an attempt to scare kids back into the "record stores".
Doesn't look like this brilliant strategy is working much though.