Tommy Boomfiger
09-17-2002, 12:24 AM
Students at the University of Southern California could face a school year without computer access if they are busted swapping movies and music online.
In an e-mail message to all students, school officials warned that using peer-to-peer file-trading services could force the university to kick students off the network.
"We want to alert you to the fact that many of you are risking complete loss of access to the USC computer system and both disciplinary and legal action," wrote USC dean of libraries Jerry Campbell and vice president of student affairs Michael Jackson in the e-mail.
The e-mail outlines the definition of copyright violations, particularly with respect to making copies of movies and music, as well as sharing those files. It warns that the entertainment industry has been "obtaining snapshots" of Internet IP addresses and a list of files being traded by people across the country. They have then been asking ISPs to cut off access to those suspected of piracy.
The USC warning is the latest in a long line of wrangling between schools and the entertainment industry over copyright violation.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has targeted schools for several years as part of its ongoing Soundbyting campaign to stamp out file trading.
It has had some success. Jeffery Levy was convicted of copyright infringement in 1999 for distributing thousands of files using the University of Oregon's network. Just two months later, 71 Carnegie Mellon University students were reprimanded for making the MP3 files available to anyone on the school's network.
At the height of the Napster craze, 17 U.S. colleges banned the song-swapping service completely.
However, the last two years have seen a change in the winds. Schools have been loath to restrict what its students can do.
MIT has taken a hands-off approach to its students' activities over the years, allowing students to use as much bandwidth as they want. The University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University have placed limits on how much bandwidth students can use.
story @ wired.com (http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,55159,00.html)
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that sucks for USC students. on the upside, thier net connection must be fast as hell now
In an e-mail message to all students, school officials warned that using peer-to-peer file-trading services could force the university to kick students off the network.
"We want to alert you to the fact that many of you are risking complete loss of access to the USC computer system and both disciplinary and legal action," wrote USC dean of libraries Jerry Campbell and vice president of student affairs Michael Jackson in the e-mail.
The e-mail outlines the definition of copyright violations, particularly with respect to making copies of movies and music, as well as sharing those files. It warns that the entertainment industry has been "obtaining snapshots" of Internet IP addresses and a list of files being traded by people across the country. They have then been asking ISPs to cut off access to those suspected of piracy.
The USC warning is the latest in a long line of wrangling between schools and the entertainment industry over copyright violation.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has targeted schools for several years as part of its ongoing Soundbyting campaign to stamp out file trading.
It has had some success. Jeffery Levy was convicted of copyright infringement in 1999 for distributing thousands of files using the University of Oregon's network. Just two months later, 71 Carnegie Mellon University students were reprimanded for making the MP3 files available to anyone on the school's network.
At the height of the Napster craze, 17 U.S. colleges banned the song-swapping service completely.
However, the last two years have seen a change in the winds. Schools have been loath to restrict what its students can do.
MIT has taken a hands-off approach to its students' activities over the years, allowing students to use as much bandwidth as they want. The University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University have placed limits on how much bandwidth students can use.
story @ wired.com (http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,55159,00.html)
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that sucks for USC students. on the upside, thier net connection must be fast as hell now