Time4aNAP
Premium
join:2007-04-09
Des Plaines, IL
| When Will They Learn?
I never cease to be amazed at how institutes of Higher Learning, which ought to have some of the better minds available, are behaving like primitive peoples in making sacrifices to "the gods", hoping to garner favorable treatment. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to understand that nothing short of a contract will exempt you from the US Copyright Office rules. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see any RIAA lawyers banging on doors, pen in hand and ready to sign. What dime store genius assumed that the RIAA has any desire to make a deal?
We're talking about an industry that is bloated with people who are under the impression that a business degree and a $1000 suit entitles them to an obscenely large slice of a pie that wouldn't even exist without the artists. We're talking about people who are so blinded by greed, that they dare to starve their cash cow at a time when technology has made direct marketing more viable than ever. Frankly, I'd rather try my luck trying to reason with a crazed lunatic who's high on PCP.
And since when is banning technology a Good Thing? Hello!!! Remember the Dark Ages? Did the US postal Service shut down because of Anthrax? No. So why ban a fundamental part of computer networking for a far less important threat?
As it stands, the RIAA is entitled by law to ruin promising young lives in the name of profit. As villainous as it is, I support this important right on principle. However they are not entitled to use other businesses as their unpaid agents. Is Vanderbilt a process server or a university? If it's the latter, then they should forward these letters to outside lawyers for advice. Then they should bill the RIAA for those legal fees. When the RIAA balks, every US college and university can join in a class action suit against the RIAA. And since it appears that the RIAA is attempting to coerce these universities into circumventing the law, criminal complaints are in order.
As it stands, the title needs revision. Vanderbilt has circumvented nothing. In fact they are dangerously close to becoming an accomplice of the RIAA. If you want to avoid going to hell, the last thing that you want to do is make deals with the devil. |
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CMoore2004
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Jonesville, MI
| They're not making a deal with the RIAA. They're making a deal with a music company that will get revenue from the school/students in one way or another.
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Time4aNAP
Premium
join:2007-04-09
Des Plaines, IL
| said by CMoore2004  :They're not making a deal with the RIAA. They're making a deal with a music company that will get revenue from the school/students in one way or another. That's right, they're not making a deal with the RIAA that would exempt them from the CRB-determined royalty fees. So they're not circumventing the RIAA at all. They are simply adding a 3rd party, with its own fees, to the mix.
OTOH, if they accept a single cent for being the RIAA's process server, especially if it involves divulging student information without a search warrant, then they are making another sort of deal with the RIAA. One with potentially dangerous consequences. |
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