The final details of the contract are supposedly being finalized, but we must remember that this is only a temporary solution, an evaluation that will only last until May, and this process must be sped up. While the contract needs to be carefully examined, the far more important part of this process is actually evaluating the service to see if it solves the problem, and that requires that Ruckus be used on campus for as long as possible.

Whether it works or not, this situation once again brings to light something that this campus lacks and sorely needs. Without data to furnish to the RIAA, students cannot be sued. We need to have what the Department of the Chief Information Officer and Administration division have been dragging their feet on for two years now: a comprehensive privacy policy for campus.

Suits filed in July used data that had been collected two months earlier. There is no good reason for keeping IP logs around for that period of time. In addition, this data is confirmed using information from the RPI mail server, a violation of personal privacy. The computer users of this campus deserve a fair and honest policy to protect them, which does not currently exist. Solid standards on data purging need to be established that cater to all interests involved, instead of vague rules that can be violated on a whim. A privacy policy is of the utmost necessity for this campus, and should be at the fore of discussion in the coming weeks.