[IP] more on RIAA lawsuit : How news is made

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: <hal@halstucker.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 14:12:13 -0400
To: <dave@farber.net>
Subject: Re: [IP] RIAA lawsuit : How news is made

Dear Prof. Farber:

At the risk of sounding like a complete geezer, I'm wondering
what they're teaching kids in J-School these days.

Hardball questions?  Did anyone ask if the letters RIAA sent
to the 140 university presidents in 41 states could be
characterized as naked acts of intimidation, given that RIAA
would probably have no standing to sue the universities
themselves?

How does RIAA's stated position that it is acting in the
interests of recording artists square with the fact that most
artists make very little money from record sales and instead
rely on performance fees for most of their income?  Or is RIAA
really suing college students in order to protect the
interests of large record companies?

Ms. Sherman states that thousands of people are being laid off
because of piracy and that thousands of record stores are
closing -- can she provide documentation for this?  If
"thousands" of record stores are closing (c'mon!) can RIAA
state with certainty that this is due to piracy and not to a
shift to purchasing through online outlets such as Amazon or
Barnes and Noble?  Or to the possibility that CDs are
overpriced and a lot of the music out there is lousy?

C'mon student journalists!  Comfort the afflicted!  Afflict
the comfortable!  The ghosts of Mencken and Murrow will
applaud you and you'll all have a hell of a lot more fun.

Best,
HS


---- Original message ----
>Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 13:13:35 -0400
>From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
>Subject: [IP] RIAA lawsuit : How news is made
>To: Ip <ip@v2.listbox.com>
>
>
>------ Forwarded Message
>From: "Sean C. Sheridan" <scs@CampusClients.com>
>Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 12:43:39 -0400
>To: <dave@farber.net>
>Subject: RIAA lawsuit : How news is made
>
>This "press conference" and the associated "Press release"
have created
>a number of one sided articles in college papers across the
country.
>
>
>Here is the transcript from a closed door meeting between the
president
>of the RIAA and a group of college student reporters.
Available at:
>http://www.cpnewslink.com/static/20051304riaatranscript.doc
>
>
>Do you have any comments?
>
>Is there anything you'd like to convey to the student reporters?
>
>Are there any experts on the list who would be willing to
answer further
>questions from college student reporters?
>
>-----------------------
>-----------------------
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Transcript:  CPNewslink Online Press Conference
>Cary Sherman, President of the Recording Industry Association
of America
>Wednesday, April 13, 2005   3:15 p.m. EST
>
>moderator:   OK. Thank you, everyone, for coming to the Recording
>Industry Association of America (RIAA)'s CPNewsLink newsmaker
conference
>today.
>
>moderator:   We are pleased to welcome as our CPNewsLink
guest this
>afternoon Mr. Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry
>Association of America (RIAA). The RIAA's member companies are
>responsible for creating, manufacturing, or distributing 90
percent of
>all legitimate sound recordings sold in the United States.
>
>moderator:   As you all are likely aware, yesterday -- in
response to an
>emerging epidemic of music theft on a specialized, high-speed
university
>computer network known as Internet2 -- the RIAA, on behalf of
the major
>record companies, announced plans to file copyright infringement
>lawsuits against 405 students at 18 different colleges across
the country.
>
>moderator:   The full press release, with a list of schools with
>students involved, is available at
>http://www.cpwire.com/archive/2005/4/12/1816.asp
>
>moderator:   Mr. Sherman, welcome.
>
>cary_sherman_riaa: Good afternoon. Thank you for the
invitation to
>participate in this online chat. I look forward to taking
your questions
>but will first make just a few opening remarks. Over the past
two years,
>we have worked very constructively with the university community,
>improving educational efforts at colleges across the country,
expanding
>partnerships between schools and legal online services and
providing a
>clearinghouse for expertise on technological anti-piracy
solutions. We
>have made tremendous progress, but we are now facing a new,
emerging
>epidemic of music theft on a specialized, high-speed
university computer
>network known as Internet2. Unfortunately, through the use of a
>file-sharing application known as i2hub, Internet2 is
increasingly
>becoming the network of choice for students seeking to steal
copyrighted
>songs and other works on a massive scale. Quite simply, this
special,
>high-speed Internet technology designed for important
academic research
>has been hijacked for illegal purposes. Students who choose
to engage in
>this illegal behavior should know that they are not
anonymous. There are
>consequences for unlawful uses of this specialized network.
We have
>built a strong relationship with university administrators in
recent
>years, and our request to them now is to not let this incredible
>technology, Internet2, become a lawless zone where the rules
don¹t
>apply. With that, I am happy to take your questions.
>
>moderator:   Let's begin with the question that's on
everyone's mind...
>
>moderator:   Your organization is making significant news
today. Why has
>the RIAA chosen to pursue users of the Internet2 network as
part of its
>anti-piracy efforts? And why now?
>
>moderator:   <Q>Your organization is making significant news
today. Why
>has the RIAA chosen to pursue users of the Internet2 network
as part of
>its anti-piracy efforts? And why now?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa  <A>Internet2 is an amazing network that
holds great
>promise. We can't let it be hijacked for illegal purposes
from the
>outset. The use of i2hub for music piracy on Internet2 is
something that
>needs to be addressed immediately, before bad habits take
hold. That's
>why we decided to act quickly -- to let everyone know that
illegal
>file-trading on Internet2 is not safe from detection. By
getting out the
>message early, we're hoping we can keep Internet2 from
suffering the
>same fate that the Internet suffered with the explosive growth of
>illegal file-sharing.
>
>moderator:   OK, now we'll turn it over to the journalists
for some
>questions. Participants, when asking a question, please state
your name,
>your school name and your newspaper name at the front of your
question.
>
>moderator:   And now we will take our first question...
>
><Q>Chris Gaerig, Michigan Daily, University of Michigan. The
RIAA says
>that it has identified students at 140 other schools. Do you
plan on
>charging these students as well? If so, when, and is there any
>possibility for these marked students to avoid such lawsuits?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>We are sending the information about
infringements
>at these 140 schools to the president of each university --
to let them
>know that they have a problem on their campus, and to
encourage them to
>do something about it. Chances are we will not take further
action
>against these particular infringements, but we're reserving
the right to
>do so. In any event, we will certainly take action against future
>infringements.
>
>
><Q>Dan Duray, The Dartmouth, Dartmouth College:  Is there a list
>available with the names of the 140 schools that have had
letters sent
>to their presidents informing them of i2hub activity, but
haven't had
>lawsuits brought against any of their students?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>We're not making the list of the 140 schools
>public. This is intended to be a private communication to the
president
>of the university to alert him/her to the fact that there is
an i2hub
>infringement problem on their campus.
>
>
><Q>Nikki Buskey, University of Texas, Daily Texan News: How
did you
>choose which universities and which students would be
targeted by the
>lawsuits?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>We chose targets based on the
egregiousness of the
>infringement. There was one user who was offering 13,600 MP3
files. You
>can be sure that user became a target. Similarly, where we
had a large
>number of infringements at a school, the students at that
school were
>more likely to be targeted.
>
>
><Q>Jennifer Kulig, The Burr, Kent State University: How does
the RIAA
>detect Internet2 users?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>For obvious reasons, we don't reveal that
>information.
>
>
>
><Q>Sheyla Asencios, The Valencia Source, Valencia Community
College:
>What other illegally shared files are these students being
sued for, or
>is music theft the only one?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>RIAA lawsuits involve music only.
However, the MPAA
>has announced that it is also filing separate lawsuits for
the theft of
>movies.
>
>
><Q>Steve Santulli, The Hoya, Georgetown University: What are
the exact
>charges being filed against these students, and what sort of
punishment
>can they expect?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>The exact charge is for direct copyright
>infringement. It carries a minimum penalty of $750 per work
infringed.
>For a serious downloader (or uploader), that can add up to a
lot of
>money. But we routinely settle these cases at far less -- on
average in
>the $3500-4500 range -- for those who work with us to resolve
these
>cases quickly. If we have to litigate the case, or if the
infringement
>is especially egregious, the settlement amount could be higher.
>
>
><Q>John Scruggs, The Daily Helmsman, University of Memphis:
How much is
>RIAA spending to fight copyright infringement on college and
university
>computer networks?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>Suffice it to say that this is not a
profit-making
>venture. But it's money we need to spend to educate users
that uploading
>and downloading on p2p networks is illegal and carries risk.
>
>
><Q>Dan Duray, The Dartmouth, Dartmouth College: You have
limited your
>lawsuits to only 18 schools and 25 students per school,
though it seems
>as though the RIAA has evidence of much greater i2hub
activity. Do you
>intend to bring about further lawsuits in the near or distant
future?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>We will definitely be bringing
additional actions
>in the future. It is possible that some of these
infringements could be
>targeted in future lawsuits, but it's a little more likely
that we'll
>bring actions against newer infringements. People who
continue to engage
>in illegal uploading and downloading after they've learned
that the use
>of i2hub on internet2 for this purpose is illegal are appropriate
>targets in future rounds.
>
>
><Q>Dave Benoit, Boston College, BC Heights. Should
universities work to
>set up contracts with companies or programs in which the cost
is covered
>by universities, or tuition, and students are able to legally
obtain
>music on their computers? And are measures being taken in
this direction?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>Absolutely. So far, 44 schools have done
deals with
>legitimate online music services so they can offer their
students a
>legal way to get music. Some students have complained that
their tuition
>or student fees shouldn't be used for music. Yet virtually
every school
>provides cable TV service in their dorms, and the
subscription for cable
>TV is included in the students' room and board fees. The
President of
>Penn State conducted focus groups on campus and found that
students felt
>it was more important to have access to music than TV! Why, then,
>shouldn't universities include music in student fees, just as
they
>include TV service, health club fees and lots of other
recreational
>activities?
>
>
><Q>Katy Knapp, University of New Mexico, Daily Lobo. How much
money does
>the recording industry actually lose from illegal downloading?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>We have not attempted to quantify the
actual losses
>due to file-sharing, because there are so many variables.
We've seen
>estimates from third parties ranging from $700 million to several
>billion per year in the US alone. But the impact is very clear:
>songwriters getting half the royalties they used to, artists
being
>dropped from label rosters, new artists not getting signed,
thousands of
>layoffs, thousands of record stores closed. People think of
artists are
>uniformly rich, but that's just not the case. For every
Britney, there
>are thousands of unknown artists working their way up, CD
plant workers,
>marketing people, delivery people, accountants, graphic
designers,
>studio engineers, background musicians, vocalists -- it goes
on and on.
>
>
><Q>Jim Rogers, University of Missouri-Columbia, The Maneater:
Is the
>RIAA considering action against Internet2 itself, rather than
simply
>users of the network?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>We have no problem with Internet2. It is
a neutral
>network that is capable of outstanding beneficial uses. It
just happens
>to be being misused by some file-sharers who think it's a
convenient way
>to steal music. We hope to work with Internet2 to see if
there are
>technical steps that can be taken to reduce the vulnerability
to abuse
>of the network.
>
>
><Q>Katy Moore, John Brown University, The Threefold Advocate:
What's the
>average number of illegal files that these students posses?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>The users sued today had an average of
2300 MP3
>files (and about 3900 total files). The largest user had
13,600 MP3s.
>
>
><Q>Dan Duray, The Dartmouth, Dartmouth College: In terms of the
>long-term goal of the RIAA of ending illegal file sharing,
how effective
>do you see today's lawsuits being?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>A lot of our efforts are designed to
educate the
>public -- and students in particular -- that file-sharing without
>permission is illegal and risky. These lawsuits are getting a
lot of
>publicity, which means that the message will get out far and
wide.
>That's an important component of the effort to persuade users
to migrate
>from the illegal services to the legitimate online services
--which are
>offering more and more content (over a million tracks
already), at all
>different price points, with guaranteed quality, without fear of
>viruses, spyware, adware, or lawsuits!
>
>
><Q>Nick Nance, Tarrant County College, The Collegian: Why
have college
>students become the primary target of your organization when
they are
>not the only population group engaging in file sharing?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>College students are not the primary
target. Of the
>lawsuits brought to date, we've sued a relatively small
percentage of
>students as compared to the general public. Today's lawsuits are
>different in that we focused on i2hub, which is uniquely
available on
>college campuses. Hence the focus on students in this round only.
>
>
><Q>Taylor Long, The Hofstra Chronicle, Hofstra University:
does the RIAA
>plan on doing anything other than sue people and write
letters in an
>effort to stop illegal downloading?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>The primary response to illegal
file-sharing is to
>offer legitimate alternatives that consumers prefer. And
that's what the
>industry has been focused on most. There are dozens of legal
services
>now offering everything from a la carte downloads to
subscriptions;
>kiosks in retail stores (like Starbucks); the new DualDisc
format for
>physical products (CD on one side, DVD on the other); extra
songs on CDs
>that can be downloaded from the Internet; and on and on. Record
>companies are licensing their content on as many different online
>platforms as they can. It's in support of those initiatives
that we're
>also pursuing education, enforcement and efforts like our
work with the
>higher education community. There isn't going to be a silver
bullet
>that's going to solve this problem. It requires a
multi-pronged approach.
>
>
><Q>Pav, SUNY Purchase. How do you feel about the establishment of
>Creative Commons licenses, where artists gain more control
over how the
>rights of their music. If such licenses were to pick up steam
and become
>more popular, and if artists take a firmer hold onto their own
>individual rights over their music, how will the RIAA respond?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>We think the Creative Commons license is
a fine
>idea and we support it. If an artist wants to control his/her own
>rights, that's fine too. This is all about choice: An artist
should be
>able to decide how to market his or her work -- not Grokster
or some
>other p2p service who builds a business on giving away
someone else's
>property. Artists who think that p2p can benefit their
careers by giving
>them exposure should be free to distribute their music on
p2p. But
>artists who don't think like that shouldn't be forced to give
their
>music away because Grokster has decided for them.
>
>
><Q>John Scruggs, The Daily Helmsman, University of Memphis:
Is the RIAA
>making headway in curbing illegal file sharing on college and
university
>campuses around the country?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>Yes. This is certainly a challenging
problem, and
>it's not going to go away overnight, probably not ever. The
idea is to
>get the problem sufficiently under control so that legitimate
commerce
>can survive. It's like physical piracy. We're never going to
eliminate
>it; there will always be vendors selling counterfeit CDs on
street
>corners. But we work hard to keep the problem sufficiently
contained
>that it doesn't frustrate investment in new artists and new
music. We
>need to get to that same point online. We've come a very long
way. Think
>of what p2p was like 2 years ago -- with exponential growth
of p2p and
>no end in sight. The problem is far more contained now, and
third-party
>studies show that even though p2p has increased again in
recent months,
>it is still below the levels it was at before we started the
lawsuits in
>September 2003.
>
>
><Q>Taylor Long, The Hofstra Chronicle, Hofstra University:
What do you
>see for the future of downloading music online: where would
you like to
>see it go? Where do you think it will go?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa <A>I think digital distribution of music is
just
>beginning, and it's going to get a whole lot larger than it
is right
>now. But let's not focus just on downloads. True, that's the most
>popular model right now. But I think users are going to
really gravitate
>toward subscription services as they learn more about them.
For a single
>monthly fee, they get the opportunity to listen to any song
they want
>whenever they want. More and more people are beginning to
subscribe to
>such services. It's a little like cable TV -- which started
slowly, but
>then became very big once people understood what it offered.
>
>
>moderator:  Mr. Sherman, any closing remarks?
>
>cary_sherman_riaa:  I wish I had more time to answer all the
excellent
>questions posed in this chat. It's obvious that you want
information,
>and I'm delighted that you have an interest in hearing our
side of this
>debate. The bottom line is that we all have something in
common -- a
>love of music. The question is how will the interests of
creating more
>and more diverse music be best served? We've got the most
vibrant music
>community in the world in the US (just like we do movies, and
software,
>all of which are encouraged by the rewards promised by
copyright law).
>We should be doing everything we can to allow the marketplace
to work
>here -- to get consumers more music, in more innovative ways,
and to
>make sure that the creators get rewarded for giving us their
gift.
>Respecting the property rights of creators is the key, and
that's why
>we've taken the steps we have. Thanks for listening.
>
>
>moderator:   This concludes today's newsmaker conference with
Cary
>Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of
America
>(RIAA). The conference is brought to you on CPNewsLink, a
joint service
>of College Publisher and Collegiate Presswire.
>
>moderator:   On behalf of the RIAA, thank you for attending,
and thank
>you for your interest. And, on behalf of all the college
journalists
>attending this event, and those reading about it, our thanks
go out to
>Mr. Sherman for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat
with us today.
>
>moderator:   If you have additional questions about this
story, please
>direct them to Jonathan Lamy, Jenni Engebretsen or Amanda
Hunter of the
>RIAA at (202) 775-0101.
>
>moderator:   Additionally, for your use in writing a story,
we will be
>sending a full transcript of this event over Collegiate
Presswire to all
>of our subscribing newspapers within the next hour, and we'll
be posting
>a copy on the front page of the CPNewsLink website shortly
thereafter.
>(http://www.cpnewslink.com)
>
>moderator:   As a reminder, we will be hosting additional CP
NewsLink
>newsmaker events throughout the upcoming year, and will be
e-mailing you
>notification of them prior to the next event.
>
>moderator:   We hope you enjoyed this chat, and trust that it
provided
>you with some insight and perspectives into this issue for
your use in
>writing stories on this topic.
>
>moderator:   Thank you, once again, for attending today's CP
NewsLink
>conference.
>
>moderator:   Good bye, everyone!
>
>
>
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