Earlier this month, both record labels and motion picture companies filed lawsuits against RPI students identified only by Internet Protocol addresses and a time stamp. In all, 28 students have now been notified by the Dean of Students Office that the IP addresses with corresponding time stamps listed in the court exhibits belonged to them. As a result, the Student Senate is looking into legal subscription services that the Institute could subscribe to that could allow for music and/or movie downloading.
As of Monday, RPI had not yet received any subpoenas and as such has not released information as to the students’ identities. In court papers filed on April 21, in the case brought by several record labels, the attorney representing the Institute, Jeffrey R. Armstrong, Esq., listed some requests of the court if it grants the plaintiff’s motion to seek the identities of the students. In addition to asking for a period of 20 days to reply to the requests, if granted, Armstrong also asked that the order limit the information that needs to be supplied and that it state that the information supplied “may be used by plaintiffs solely for the purpose of protecting plaintiffs’ rights under the Copyright Act.” A “telephone status conference” has been scheduled to be held today at 11 am.
Dean of Students Mark Smith said that the 28 students ranged from freshmen to seniors and that the initial reaction of many was one of anger and “Why me?” He stated that while some students knew what they were doing when they were sharing the files, others were unaware of just how much they were opening themselves up to this situation by sharing.
Smith added that some wanted to challenge the suits and said that all of them would be collectively meeting with him this week. He stated that great care was taken to ensure that those identified were actually the ones who were sharing the files listed by the court exhibits, saying that the information was cross checked against mail server login logs.
The Motion Picture Association of America also recently sent President Shirley Ann Jackson and other university presidents a letter discussing file sharing on i2hub. According to Smith, attached to the letter sent to Jackson was a 44-page listing of IP addresses and i2hub usernames along with an alleged illegally shared file. The list contained a great deal of duplication, dedicating one line to each copyrighted work and IP, thus meaning that the same IP address was often listed several times.
The associated time stamps on the list mainly ranged from mid-February to mid-March and the letter did not say that any additional suits would be brought in the near future. As of Monday, no additional cases had been filed with the U.S. District Court having jurisdiction over RPI.
Meanwhile, the Student Senate has begun looking into legal subscription services offering music and/or movie downloading. According to Grand Marshal Max Yates ’06, this effort is being led by Derek Murawsky ’07, who chairs the Senate’s Technology Affairs Committee.
Yates said that a student body survey is being devised to gauge student opinion on the matter. He stated that it will be sent out later this week via e-mails from class presidents.
The GM said that the primary reason why the Senate is looking into this, especially on such an expedited time table, is in the hope that it will prevent other RPI students from being sued. He added, “I’m concerned for the welfare of students.” Many universities around the nation are subscribing to such services for the entire student body and, according to the GM, it seems as if students at these schools are not being targeted in the current round of litigation.
Yates stated that there are multiple services being looked at, including CDigix, Napster, and others. Some only offer music for download, while others also offer movies and other services. In addition, if RPI did subscribe to a service, there are multiple options for how to finance it.
One option being looked into is one in which the Institute would split the financing with the Union. The GM anticipated that a plan such as this could increase the Union activity fee by up to $12 each year. He did stress, though, that there are other ways to fund it, citing a school at which an anonymous donor is funding the subscription.
Yates also mentioned the Campus Action Network, which is being led by Sony and works to support launches of legitimate digital music services on campuses. It does not endorse one technology over the other, and according to some reports, fully pays for a semester trial of services.
The GM stated that though representatives from one service would be meeting with an ad-hoc Senate committee and that meetings are being held with administrators, he still “want[s] a discussion,” among students. He emphasized that if the survey indicates that students are not actually interested in such a service, then one would not be contracted. The Senate’s next meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 9 pm in Union 3202.
