RIAA, Higher Ed. Not BFF
Some institutions, frustrated with the RIAA’s demands on their time and resources, are taking their student records and going home. So says a Chronicle of Higher Education article that reports some institutions are “fighting back” –passively–by not forwarding the RIAA’s prelitigation settlement letters (without an institution’s records, the RIAA doesn’t know which student is guilty of sharing) and automatically deleting network access logs regularly, as the institution can’t provide what it doesn’t have. A few have taken a more aggressive approach, by going to the courts.
The dissenting schools, and those who continue to cooperate with the RIAA’s demands, cite the money and human resources it takes to work with the RIAA, and the recording industry’s lack of reciprocity. The new College Opportunity and Affordability Act (Higher Education Reauthorization Act 2007) includes provisions that require schools “to the extent practicable” offer legal downloading alternatives; explore anti-sharing technology; educate students about file-sharing and report on their efforts to the government. The recording industry’s lobbyists seem to have had something to do with this. Institutions, of course, feel this has become a rather one-sided friendship.
The RIAA, apparently not satisfied with a potiential law that may obligate institutions to buy its products, counters that the institutions’ previous compliance, and the continued cooperation of others, shows their requests don’t present an undue burden. After all, once you’ve run a gauntlet once, you’re happy to do it again and again!
How will your institution comply, if HERA 2007 is signed into law (it almost certainly will be)? How do you deal with piracy, downloading and RIAA requests now?
Tags: Information Technology, Legislation, RIAA