RIAA Anti-Piracy Enforcement Efforts

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) actively surveys computers connected to the Internet in search of violations of copyright law. These efforts include a heightened monitoring of colleges and universities, due in part to the high speed Internet connections ready available at these institutions.

The RIAA’s actions include sending notices to universities alleging network user violations of copyright laws. In these notices, the RIAA informs the schools of forthcoming copyright infringement lawsuits against network users (identified through Internet Protocol addresses), who they allege have been participating in illegal downloading or file sharing of copyrighted material. Additionally, in these notices, the RIAA indicates that prior to commencing litigation, it will send to the school a pre-litigation settlement letter with a request that the letter be sent to the alleged violator.

If the university is requested to forward any pre-litigation settlement letters to alleged violators who can be identified using cited IP addresses, it will do so. However, in so forwarding any such letter, the university: does not vouch for the accuracy of what is contained in the letter; does not take a position on what the recipient should do in response to the letter; and will not offer legal advice to the recipient of such letters.

A sample RIAA settlement letter may be viewed at: http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/CSD4832.pdf. The sample settlement letter, which lists any songs allegedly shared from that user's computer, also contains information as to how the user can "settle" the case by paying a "significantly reduced amount compared with what we [the RIAA] will offer to settle them [the claim] for after we file suit or compared to the judgment amount a court may enter against you [the user]", via the web site www.p2plawsuits.com or a toll-free number.

The RIAA also advises individuals to consult their own attorneys promptly.

Brown's Obligation

If a legal action is commenced by the RIAA (or some other recording industry party) against alleged violators who are users of Brown University's network, the university will identify these individuals if required by legal process (for example, a subpoena is served on the university seeking the identity of alleged violators).

If the RIAA subpoenas the university, we are legally required to identify a user associated with an IP address if we are able to do so. If a subpoena is served on the university, the university will provide notice of the subpoena to a user identified by the IP address cited in the subpoena.

How the RIAA's Actions Will Affect Alleged Violators

The above initiative can have legal and financial consequences for copyright violators, and the legal and financial burdens associated with illegal actions will rest entirely on the shoulders of the individuals identified by the RIAA.

Further, sharing music (as well as movies, games, software or television shows) illegally and violating copyright law is a clear violation of Brown's Copyright Infringement Policy, as well as our Acceptable Use Policy.

In addition to the RIAA, other agencies such as HBO and the Motion Picture Association of America also monitor the Internet for illegal distribution of copyrighted videos, television shows, movies, games and software.

Recent RIAA Activity and P2P File Sharing

Like most campuses nationwide, Brown experienced a surge of copyright violation notices from the Recording Industry Association of America in late April. This did not signal, however, a comparable increase in the actual infringement taking place on the campus networks.

According to Mark Luker, Vice President of EDUCAUSE, this spike was due "not to an increase in infringing activity on campus networks, but simply to changes in the mechanism used to detect and report the presence of files in shared folders."MP3 playerThis mechanism was described in a May 13th article appearing in The Chronicle, "How It Does IT: The RIAA Explains How It Catches Alleged Music Pirates."

The Chronicle provided a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the RIAA's process for identifying copyright violators, recounting a private demonstration by an RIAA representative of the methods used. Of note:

  • To catch those trading copyrighted songs online, the RIAA uses the same file sharing software as the traders do (Limewire).
  • The automated process, performed by Media Sentry, can quickly identity a song and the associated IP address, then forwards the information to the RIAA.
  • The organization has singled out universities for their automated investigations for file traders, i.e., all notices received by commercial Internet-service providers are processed manually. (The RIAA FAQ specifically states "... we have stepped up our efforts to address college piracy across the board by significantly expanding our deterrence and education programs...")

According to Mark Luker, it's important to be aware that "DMCA notices are frequently triggered by the presence in a "shared folder" of a file whose distribution from that shared folder would be unauthorized, rather than by observation of an actual unauthorized transmission of such a file... the RIAA's DMCA notices are almost completely folder-based..."

An explanation on the RIAA's FAQ supports this statement: "When you log onto a P2P network, your P2P software has a default setting that automatically informs the network of your user name and the names and sizes of the files on your hard drive that are available for copying. Because all this information is publicly available to anyone on the network, it’s relatively easy to look for – and find – users who are offering to “share” copyrighted music files... Given the huge number of P2P users, we use software to search the network for infringing files, similar to the way other users search the network."

What This Means to You

  • Having peer-to-peer (P2P) software installed on your computer not only makes it possible for you to download files, but also for files stored in a sharable folder to be uploaded to others, or file sharing. Entertainment owners such as the RIAA consider either action an infraction of copyright agreements.
  • Some P2P programs automatically reset themselves to sharing mode every time you turn on your computer. So though you may not want to share, you'll need to turn sharing off each time you turn on your computer. In addition, even when you think you've turned sharing off, you may not have done so (the instructions could be wrong or misleading)
  • Some P2P programs are not easy to uninstall and may in fact continue to reside on your computer.
  • If you need assistance configuring your file sharing program, Cornell University has collected a list of resources on how to disable or remove peer-to-peer file sharing programs.

Bottom Line

As the number of complaints received continues to rise, you should be aware that:

  • If you engage in illegal file sharing, your odds of getting caught are growing. To stay within the law, avoid fines, and maintain your network access, don't illegally download.
  • Purchase your tracks or obtain them from a copyright-free site (some musicians share their music freely!).
  • Share tracks on your computer only according to the explicit licenses or permissions granted by the copyright owner or distributor (for example, Apple allows limited sharing of music purchased through iTunes on a local network).

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