Students checking their e-mail Monday afternoon found a message from Chief Information Officer and Vice President for Information Services and Technology John E. Kolb ’79. He began with a somewhat alarming opener—“You may be at risk”—but the body of his message was actually rather mundane. It reminded readers of Institute policies regarding campus computing and network resources and noted that there may be significant repercussions for those who violate rules regarding intellectual property.
The sudden nature of the missive was seen by many as a sign of impending legal action being taken against the school or the students. According to Kolb, however, it was not spurred on by any particular event; rather, it was simply a revision of a letter that is typically sent out to students at the beginning of the school year.
We were, of course, glad to hear that this letter isn’t a sign of forthcoming lawsuits against RPI community members. That said, we are very concerned about some of the content in the text of the notice. In particular, we are disturbed by the references to the Recording Industry Association of America’s website designed to “educate” college students about intellectual property laws. The site is misleading at best, and its tidbits of dubious accuracy offer no citations to allow readers to verify the claims.
Sharing copyrighted files is illegal and does carry harsh penalties; it is not our intention to suggest otherwise, and it is important that students know the consequences of such actions. However, in sending out this e-mail, the Institute has perpetuated the RIAA’s propaganda instead of taking the opportunity to give a thorough and impartial interpretation of the U.S. copyright code. The Institute is not responsible for policing its students on behalf of the recording industry, and should not voluntarily play the role of messenger between the RIAA and our students.
You’ll notice that The Polytechnic is not written in legalese; we’re not lawyers and can’t give anyone legal advice. If you have questions, consider taking advantage of the free on-campus legal consulting provided by the Rensselaer Union. Alternatively, if you want to look at the details of the law itself, check out Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute (http://www.law.cornell.edu/): it is in Title 17 of the U.S. Code.
