I just got this in my email box at work...

Recently, *SU has been subject to a number of complaints from the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) regarding the illegal
downloading and distribution of copyrighted music using *SU campus
networks and desktop applications like Kazaa. Not only is this practice
illegal, but it adds unnecessary traffic to our already conjested
networks.


Making copies of any copyrighted material without the right to do so is
against both state and federal law and University policy. Most people
who make illegal copies know it is wrong, but are unaware of how severe
the penalties can be.


The US Copyright Law (Title 17 of the US Code) has very serious
penalties for violations. These include significant fines for each copy.
If you copy more than $1,000 worth of material, there are criminal
penalties that include substantial fines of up to $250,000 and up to 10
years prison time for flagrant cases of infringement.


The software, record, and movie industries are stepping up their
enforcement of copyright laws. They are using computer technology to
detect those who run servers or simply download something they have no
right to possess. The likelihood of being caught is growing every day,
and prosecutions will become more frequent.


You may have downloaded copyrighted materials and not been caught, so
you think you're safe from prosecution. I urge you to think again. Two
students in Oregon were caught and prosecuted under the criminal
statutes. One received a suspended two-year sentence, the other spent
time in jail. A student in North Carolina spent 41 months in prison for
copyright infringement. Most recently, four students at Michigan
Technological University, Princeton University, and Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute were sued by the RIAA for allegedly offering
access to copyrighted music files.


As we receive reports from the RIAA and other sources of people
illegally trading copyrighted music and other copyrighted materials on
*SU networks, we will be notifying those individuals to remove all
copyrighted material and the software for trading those files. Failure
to comply or repeat offense will result in the blacklisting of the
individuals computer which will restrict network connectivity to the
local network environment and completely restrict the ability of the
individual to access the internet.


Below is a letter from the RIAA to *SU for the most recent occurance of
illegal downloading and distribution of copyrighted material on the *SU
network.


---
--
April 10, 2003


*** State University
Detroit, MI 48202 US


Re: Copyright infringement at IP address: ***
Apr 2003
09:17:46 EDT (GMT -0400)


Dear Mr. {Name Removed}:


I am contacting you on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of
America, Inc. (RIAA) and its member record companies. The RIAA is a
trade association whose member companies create, manufacture, and
distribute approximately ninety (90) percent of all legitimate sound
recordings sold in the United States. Under penalty of perjury, we
submit that the RIAA is authorized to act on behalf of its member
companies in matters involving the infringement of their sound
recordings, including enforcing their copyrights and common law rights
on the Internet.


We believe a user on your network, using the above referenced IP
address, is offering 541 files for download through a peer to peer
application. Many of these files contain copyrighted sound recordings
including recordings by such artists as Jay-Z, Nelly Furtado, Eminem,
Madonna, and Ludacris that are owned by our member companies. For your
reference we have included a representative list of some of the
infringing sound recordings being offered at the above IP address.


We have a good faith belief that the above-described activity is not
authorized by the copyright owners, their agent, or the law. We are
asking for your immediate assistance in stopping this unauthorized
activity. Specifically, we request that you remove or disable access to
the infringing sound files via your system.


In addition, we believe it is in everyone's interest for music consumers
to be better educated about the subject of copyright law and music. In
addition to taking steps to notify this network user about the illegal
nature of this activity, we encourage you to refer him/her to the MUSIC
Coalition's new website at www.musicunited.org. The site contains
valuable information about what's legal and what's not when it comes to
copying music.


You should understand that this letter constitutes notice to you that
this network user may be liable for the infringing activity occurring on
your network. In addition, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,
if you ignore this notice, your institution may also be liable for any
resulting infringement. This letter does not constitute a waiver of any
right to recover damages incurred by virtue of any such unauthorized
activities, and such rights as well as claims for other relief are
expressly retained.


Thank you in advance for your prompt assistance in this matter. If you
have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at
***@riaa.com, via telephone at ***, or via mail at
RIAA, 1330 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, D.C., 20036.
Please reference Case ID *** in any response or communication
regarding this infringement.



Sincerely,


Anti-Piracy Unit
RIAA
[This message was edited Fri Apr 11 11:49:16 PDT 2003 by applekisses]

Oh fuck!

This is happening at Brown right now. They just sent out a University wide e-mail telling us we will be fined and cut off from the network if we are using any file sharing services.

CarrieLee said:

It's scary, isn't it? I was Napstering here like a mofo before it was taken off. I've since gotten it off of my system.

Yeah thats real smart RIAA, slap people with fines and legal fees. Then they'll REALLY be able to pay for all their music.

It's bad enough the CD's are already over priced, and they're fucking their Artists over. Now they wanna fuck the consumers. They should just go fuck themselves.

Here's an idea RIAA:

- lower the price on CDs
- start paying the artists their fair dues, so we know we're actually supporting them by buying their albums, and not just you.

Tom said:

Yeah! What TOM said!

Anyway nobody can't sue KAZAA because of it's geographical location... They don't fall under those C laws...

But it's not right to use unofficial releases anyway...

I could understand the bootlegging part..Sure, don't steal entire album tracks and sell them, but the hard to find or unreleased things, why not? If they really didn't want them released how on earth did they get out in the first place?
Start producing albums worthy of $15 - $18 and people will buy them. (maybe) But I don't feel music should be completely free if that is your source of income. But at least respect the people who have made you millions. As far as the "INDUSRTY" people go, they're the reason the music world is so fucked up anyway. Only having themselves to blame!