Anyone living in the residence halls can get the message – the University does not want people sharing their files. In addition to articles published in the Daily Iowan designed to scare students away from file sharing, posters have recently appeared on the floors of residence halls campus wide. One poster uses the copyright symbol eleven times, replacing the letter c with a bright, bold circled red c in it's place.
Why the scare? It could be related to the PRO-IP bill signed into law in October. The law, which has been criticized by industry groups as dangerous and excess, provides new or increased penalties for filesharing and also creates a new executive branch office to enforce copyright laws. The increased penalties, however, are much larger than the current ones. For instance, someone copying a 50 songs from a boxed set could be liable for $7.5 million in damages instead of the current $150,000.[1]
The law has been described as "music to the ears" by the head of the RIAA, and is designed to promote industry profits in an age where sharing has often become commonplace. To pass the law, industry lobbyists used extremely falsified statistics, claiming billions have been lost due to filesharing[2]
An article from June 2008 highlights flaws in how these industries spy on University campuses, accusing laser printers of downloading movies like Indiana Jones.
Why the scare? It could be related to the PRO-IP bill signed into law in October. The law, which has been criticized by industry groups as dangerous and excess, provides new or increased penalties for filesharing and also creates a new executive branch office to enforce copyright laws. The increased penalties, however, are much larger than the current ones. For instance, someone copying a 50 songs from a boxed set could be liable for $7.5 million in damages instead of the current $150,000.[1]
The law has been described as "music to the ears" by the head of the RIAA, and is designed to promote industry profits in an age where sharing has often become commonplace. To pass the law, industry lobbyists used extremely falsified statistics, claiming billions have been lost due to filesharing[2]
An article from June 2008 highlights flaws in how these industries spy on University campuses, accusing laser printers of downloading movies like Indiana Jones.
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Iowa City News
Anti-Filesharing Campaign In Residence Halls