RIAA to Universities: You'd Better Help Us Threaten Your Students...

The RIAA is at it again, it ain't enough to take away internet radio, they're swingin' from all sides! Here's the latest from those who 'represent' recording artists (any guess what part of the royalties in question will go to artists??)

**RIAA OFFERS SWEET DEAL TO UNIVERSITIES: HELP US THREATEN YOUR STUDENTS! WE'RE DOING THEM A FAVOR!!
Not content with wasting universities' resources via their usual tactics (i.e. flooding schools with machine-generated complaints about file sharing) the major record labels are now DEMANDING that universities help them shake down students.

**HEY KIDS! THIS IS AMERICA! LET'S MAKE A DEAL!
The RIAA wants universities and colleges to forward "pre-lawsuit" letters to alleged file sharers promising a "discounted" settlement price if the student agrees to PAY UP immediately.

**SAVE US MONEY FOR YOUR SAKE!
This saves the RIAA the trouble and expense of filing a lawsuit to obtain students' contact information, a savings they may be redirected to MORE lawsuits.

**DON'T WORRY! WE'LL TELL YOU ALL THE FACTS!!
To add insult to injury, the letters advise students to contact the RIAA if theyhave any questions. It's safe to say that the RIAA is unlikely to give students the full picture. For example:
1. Will the RIAA tell students that parents are generally NOT liable for infringements committed by their kids?
2. Or that the record labels sometimes sue the wrong people? (WHAT?!SAY IT ISN'T SO!)

**UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: YOU'RE NOT JUST CHEESY, YOU'RE DELICIOUS!! WHY?
The University of Wisconsin is REFUSING to forward the pre-litigation letters to its students. Brian Rust of the Univ of Wisconsin's IT department said: "These settlement letters are an attempt to short circuit the legal process (in order) to rely on universities to be their legal agent." HEY, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, GIVE THAT GUY A RAISE!
SIGN A PETITION to help stop the lawsuit campaign:
http://www.eff.org/share/petition
For more info and related links:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005164.php
http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/RIAA_v_ThePeople/college_faq.php
Information contained herein is from the eff.org web newsletter.
(eff.org discovered air carriers and telephone companies turning over private customer records en masse and sued, then the press got interested.)

"Remember the days when you used to sit
and make up your tunes for love,
and pour your simple sorrows to the
sound hole and your knees?
Now you're seen on giant screens,
and at parties for the press,
and for people who have
slices of you from the company."
Joni Mitchell