More proof the RIAA sucks - Freeze-Frame Radio

MzHartz · Permanent Vacation

More proof the RIAA sucks

JD The Jazz Doctor · Grand Poobah

The RIAA doesn't care about the artists. The RIAA cares about the RIAA. Ask the artists....

ghostdancer · Ghost In The Machine

That's true! A lot of them haven't seen a penny yet, but the whole point of the lawsuits were for the artists to get PAID!!

MzHartz · Permanent Vacation

The Inexact Science Behind D.M.C.A. Takedown Notices

By Brad Stone
Takedown notice

A new study from the University of Washington suggests that media industry trade groups are using flawed tactics in their investigations of users who violate copyrights on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.

Those trade groups, including the Motion Picture Association of America (M.P.A.A.) Entertainment Software Association (E.S.A.) and Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.), send universities and other network operators an increasing number of takedown notices each year, asserting that their intellectual property rights have been violated under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Many universities pass those letters directly on to students without questioning the veracity of the allegations. The R.I.A.A. in particular follows up some of those notices by threatening legal action and forcing reported file-sharers into a financial settlement.

But the study, released Thursday by Tadayoshi Kohno, an assistant professor, Michael Piatek a graduate student, and Arvind Krishnamurthy, a research assistant professor, all at the University of Washington, argues that perhaps those takedown notices should be viewed more skeptically.

The paper finds that there is a serious flaw in how these trade groups finger reported file-sharers. It also suggests that some people might be getting improperly accused of sharing copyrighted content, and could even be purposely framed by other users.

In two separate studies in August 2007 and May of this year, the researchers set out to examine who was participating in BitTorrent file-sharing networks and what they were sharing. The researchers introduced software agents into these networks to monitor their traffic. Even though those software agents did not download any files, the researchers say they received more than 400 take-down requests accusing them of participating in the downloads.

The researchers concluded that enforcement agencies are looking only at I.P. addresses of participants on these peer-to-peer networks, and not what files are actually downloaded or uploaded a more resource-intensive process that would nevertheless yield more conclusive information.

In their report, the researchers also demonstrate a way to manipulate I.P. addresses so that another user appears responsible for the file-sharing.

An inanimate object could also get the blame. The researchers rigged the software agents to implicate three laserjet printers, which were then accused in takedown letters by the M.P.A.A. of downloading copies of Iron Man and the latest Indiana Jones film.

Because current enforcement techniques are weak, it is possible that anyone, regardless of sharing content or using BitTorrent, could get a D.M.C.A. takedown notice claiming they were committing copyright infringement, said Mr. Piatek.

In their paper, the researchers argue for greater transparency and public review of Big Medias intellectual property enforcement actions.

Our study scientifically shows that flaws exists, said Mr. Kohno, an assistant professor in the universitys Computer Science and Engineering department. Its impossible to prove that other flaws dont exist, especially since current industry practices are so shrouded in mystery. Ultimately, we think that our results should provide a wake-up call for more openness on the parts of content enforcers.

MzHartz · Permanent Vacation

Universities Baffled By Massive Surge In RIAA Copyright Notices
By Ryan Singel EmailApril 30, 2008 | 9:42:08 PMCategories: Copyrights and Patents

Texastechflyer

In the last 10 days, universities around the country have seen more than a 20-fold increase in the number of filesharing takedown notices from the recording industry, in an unexplained spike that seems focused on colleges in the Midwest.

The spike is not matched by an increase in actual file sharing.

"Universities are getting as many notices from the RIAA in one day as what they would typically get from all content owners in a month," says Mark Luker, a vice president of higher education technology advocate Educause.

Indiana University says that starting on April 21, the Recording Industry Association of America began sending 80 legal notices a day to the university, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Typically, the university handles less than 100 such notices a month from the RIAA, the Motion Picture Association of America and HBO combined.

The DMCA notices include information about a specific IP address, file sharing protocol and named infringing file.

Indiana University's tech staff routinely compare those details against the university's logs to make sure that the allegations are accurate, according to Mark Bruhn, an associate vice president of IU's information technology department.

But many of the recent notices don't correspond to entries in traffic logs, which also don't show any overall increase in file sharing, Bruhn said.

"We are not sure now what we have is an allegation of copyright infringement or an allegation of possible future illegal behavior," Bruhn said."The whole thing is very concerning, to be frank. We don't know why they are doing this and I'm not sure they know what they are doing."

"They in fact can't know if the files being offered are actually the protected works of their clients -- how would they know if they didn't download and open them?" Bruhn said.

University of Chicago has also seen a recent surge, its CIO confirmed to THREAT LEVEL.

Meanwhile, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported Wednesday that George Washington University and University of Cincinnati are also reporting spikes beginning two weeks ago.

For its part, the RIAA denies there's anything new to the letters, sending along a stock statement to THREAT LEVEL.

"We are always making an effort to more effectively and efficiently detect infringing activity on the Internet, as we are continuously looking for ways to improve our ability to find and act on incidences of theft online. Having said that, there's been no change in our procedures."

RIAA spokeswoman Liz Kennedy did not respond to a follow-up request to explain the surge , and IU's analysis that notices were being sent without proof of infringement.

Luker finds the RIAA's position difficult to believe.

"It is for us hard to accept that students are multiplying their infringements by 30," Luker said.

Bruhn concurs.

"The RIAA says it is not new, but clearly it is," Bruhn said.

University of California at Berkeley's chief information officer Shel Waggener confirmed he'd heard of the spikes and suggested there was a political purpose driving them.

"Public universities are in a unique position since the industry puts pressure on us through state legislatures to try to impose what are widely considered to be draconian content monitoring measures and turn us into tech police forces in support of a specific industry," Waggener said.

The RIAA is also backing legislation in states such as Illinois and Tennessee that would require schools that get a certain number of notices to begin installing deep packet monitoring equipment on their internet and intranets, according to Luker.

"The number of DMCA notices that are sent to a university vary wildly from one day to the next, and no one, including the federal government knows how they send them out or what criteria they use," Luker said. "It is not reasonable in any way to use those counts as a basis for government actions."

IU's Bruhn says the school has typically treated the notices seriously, requiring first time offenders to take an online tutorial about copyright, suspending second time offenders from the university's net for two weeks and indefinitely suspending anyone caught a third time.

Bruhn, Waggener and Luker all downplayed the amount of file sharing occurring on campus networks these days, saying that the MPAA, for instance, radically overestimated how much movie piracy was attributable to college students. For more than two years, the industry claimed that more than 40 percent of illegal movie downloads came from college students -- costing the industry billions of dollars. Then in January of this year, the estimate was reduced to 15% for college-aged students, and only 3% occurring on campus networks.

confuzzed · Permanent State of Confusion

How is this not considered harassment? You can't send threatening letters just to try to scare some people. Granted, if it is a move to garner attention, it is working. But where is the true proof. Improve your technology and come see me when you actually catch someone doing wrong.