<p>At least we're #1 in something:</p>
<p>Sweet, now I know that I made the right decision.</p>
<p>Many of the IT folks at Columbia are ex-hippie / open-source software / anti-corporation types who don't really have a problem with piracy. Columbia will comply with the laws, but isn't about to police piracy on their own.</p>
<p>HAHAHA. Love it.</p>
<p>This reminds of those MIT students who started the whole hacking scene, lol.</p>
<p>Very nice!!</p>
<p>So is there a lot of file sharing on campus?</p>
<p>the riaa just sued a bunch of people here. there's some recent (last 2 weeks) spec articles out there, someone will post them im sure</p>
<ol>
<li>take that, us news and world report!</li>
<li>the riaa hasn't sued anyone at columbia yet.</li>
</ol>
<p>right outside my door there is a flier that asks if you've been sued by the riaa and offers numbers for you to call to get help.</p>
<p>did the "free culture @ columbia" people put it there?</p>
<p>are their pre-settlement-extortion letters, they won't be suing anyone for something like business days. so it remains to be seen as to what actually happens.</p>
<p>from Zvi Galil</p>
<p>To SEAS students,</p>
<p>As you may know from news accounts, the Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA) has launched a new campaign against computer users who
are engaged in illegal file sharing of music. This campaign is targeted
directly at college and university students. In the past few weeks a
number of Columbia students have been identified by the RIAA as
copyright violators. The RIAA's motion picture counterpart, the MPAA,
has also significantly increased the number of copyright infringement
notices it sends to colleges and universities. The students targeted by
the music and motion picture rights organizations may face serious
financial penalty as a result of their choice to obtain copyrighted
material online without paying for it. In light of these recent events,
we want to take the opportunity to better inform you about strategies
copyright holders are taking to stop this illegal activity and to remind
you of the serious consequences that can result if you persist in
breaking the law.</p>
<p>First, as you have been told many times before, trading copyrighted
music, movies and games online is both illegal and a violation of
University policy. While you may question how any activity so
commonplace can be illegal, the fact is that such activity is illegal.
It is stealing someone else's intellectual property. Over 65 Columbia
students have already been sued for such activity and, with the recent
campaign announced by the RIAA, that number will continue to grow. Both
the RIAA and its motion picture counterpart, the MPAA, have
sophisticated systems in place that scan the internet to identify
infringers at Columbia by their Internet Protocol addresses. With this
information, the record and motion picture companies can file a lawsuit
against the individuals with these IP addresses and serve a subpoena on
Columbia to obtain the identity of the individuals. When served with
such a subpoena, the University is required to comply and release the
name of the student who is associated with the IP address in question.</p>
<p>In addition to filing lawsuits against users engaged in illegal file
sharing, the RIAA and MPAA, as well as other representatives of
copyright owners, file notices with the University under the procedures
of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the DMCA). Columbia receives
hundreds of such notices each year, and as required by law, Columbia
takes action to remove infringing material brought to its attention.
Columbia is also required under the law to take escalating action
against repeat infringers, which may include cutting off access to the
Columbia network.</p>
<p>Finally, as indicated above, the RIAA has notified the University that
it is instituting a new "pre-lawsuit settlement process", whereby it
will send to the University "settlement letters", identifying in each
case the IP address of an alleged infringer, and requesting that we
forward the letter to the individual associated with that address. We
have already received a number of these "settlement letters", which we
have forwarded to the users whose IP addresses are implicated.
According to these letters, the individual users are given a period of
time in which to come forward and settle the claim at a discounted rate.
If the individual does not settle the claim within this time frame, the
RIAA states that it will proceed with filing a lawsuit and serving a
subpoena on the University to obtain the identity of the user sued.</p>
<p>In addition to the legal consequences mentioned above, it is important
for you to remember that violating copyright law is also against
University policy and can subject you to disciplinary action, which
among other things, will be noted in your record and may cause you
difficulties beyond your years as a student at Columbia.</p>
<p>For more information please go to the Columbia University Information
Technology website at <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/policy/copyright.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.columbia.edu/cu/policy/copyright.html</a>.</p>
<p>Dean Galil</p>
<p>i meant to write twenty business days.</p>
<p>Zvi obviously didn't write that himself.</p>
<p>GS got these two emails last week:</p>
<hr>
<p>Columbia University's central administration has asked the deans at all of Columbia's schools to remind students about copyright laws of protected materials and the serious legal as well as disciplinary action that can result from copyright infringement, especially the more recent and blatant illegal obtaining of music or video files online. Please read this full explanation below about strategies copyright holders are taking to stop this illegal activity and Columbia's responsibility to help protect these copyright laws.</p>
<p>Mary McGee
Dean of Students and Associate Dean of Faculty
Columbia University School of General Studies</p>
<hr>
<p>The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has launched a new campaign against computer users who are engaged in illegally obtaining music files online. This campaign is targeted directly at college and university students. In the past few weeks several Columbia students have been identified by the RIAA as copyright violators. These students may now face serious financial penalty as a result of their choice to obtain music online without paying for it. In light of these recent events we want to take the opportunity to better inform you about strategies copyright holders are taking to stop this illegal activity and to remind you of the serious consequences that can result if you persist in breaking this law.</p>
<p>First, as you should already know, obtaining copyrighted music, movies and games online without paying for it is illegal. Recently the owners of copyright protected materials, (i.e., music, movies, television shows, etc.), have begun taking aggressive action to combat the rampant downloading and sharing of their property without their consent. Both the RIAA and its motion picture counterpart, the MPAA, have sophisticated systems in place that scan the internet to identify infringers at Columbia by their Internet Protocol addresses. With this information, the record and motion picture companies can file a lawsuit against the individuals associated with these IP addresses and serve a subpoena on Columbia to obtain the identity of the individual associated with that IP address. When served such a subpoena the University is required to comply and release the name of the student who is associated with the IP address.</p>
<p>In addition to filing lawsuits against users engaged in illegal file downloading and sharing, the RIAA and MPAA, as well as other representatives of copyright owners, file notices with the University under the procedures of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the DMCA). Columbia receives hundreds of such notices each year, and as required by law, Columbia takes action to remove infringing material brought to its attention. Columbia is also required under the law to take escalating action against repeat infringers, which may include cutting off access to the Columbia network.</p>
<p>Finally, as indicated above, the RIAA has instituted a new "pre-lawsuit settlement process, whereby it sends "settlement letters" to the University, identifying the IP address of an alleged infringer, and requests that we forward the letter to the individual associated with that address. The implicated individual is then given a period of time in which to come forward and settle the claim at a discounted rate. If the individual does not settle the claim within this time frame, the RIAA will proceed with filing a lawsuit and serving a subpoena on the University to obtain the identity of the user sued.</p>
<p>In addition to the legal consequences mentioned above, it is important for you to remember that violating copyright law is also against University policy. Students who engage in this activity will be subject to disciplinary action by your school. If you are found responsible for violating copyright law by engaging in illegal downloading or file sharing you may have to disclose this information to graduate schools or future employers.</p>
<p>For more information please go to the Columbia University Information Technology website at <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/policy/copyright.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.columbia.edu/cu/policy/copyright.html</a> <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/policy/copyright.html">http://www.columbia.edu/cu/policy/copyright.html</a> .</p>
<hr>
<p>CUIT sent this:</p>
<p>Dear Students, </p>
<p>By now, you should have received an email from your dean, reminding you that downloading and sharing movies, music, television shows or other protected content without permission from the copyright owner is against the law and exposes you to legal liability.</p>
<p>While the University does not monitor the content of students' use of the network, you should be aware that representatives of copyright owners routinely search the Internet for copyright violations and, on the basis of such monitoring, file lawsuits against unnamed individuals, by providing their computer addresses. When these addresses are on Columbia's network, copyright holders regularly obtain subpoenas requiring the University to identify the users associated with these addresses. The owner of the associated computer is then the defendant in the lawsuit and is liable for fines and damages. </p>
<p>Please note that even unintentional infringement violates the law. Many peer-to-peer file-sharing programs are set to enable sharing by default, and some, such as BitTorrent, cannot be turned off. Simply connecting to the Internet with one of these programs installed may put you at risk if there is copyrighted material on your computer. </p>
<p>For more information about copyright, the University's Computer and Network Use policy, and a link to information on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, please see <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/policy/copyright.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.columbia.edu/cu/policy/copyright.html</a>. If you have any further questions, please contact the CUIT Client Services Desk at 212-854-1919.</p>
<p>Sincerely,
Candace C. Fleming
Vice President
Columbia University Information Technology</p>
<p>Hey, it's either from the internet or the guy on the street.</p>
<p>WindowShopping: "2. the riaa hasn't sued anyone at columbia yet."</p>
<p>Zvi Galil: "Over 65 Columbia students have already been sued for such activity"</p>
<p>I DON'T KNOW WHO TO TRUST!</p>
<p>65 sued, or 65 receiving the settlement offers?</p>
<p>well, there were 20 extortion letters sent to columbia on 3/20. i'm not sure where zvi's previous 65 number comes from. (well, i know it's coming from the administration, but i don't know where their number comes from).</p>
<p>do any of you know someone at columbia sued by the riaa prior to 3/20?</p>
<p>Zvi is a riot, in a good way.</p>