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[DMCA-Activists] CHE - EPIC Warns Colleges Not to Monitor Student File S
From: |
Seth Johnson |
Subject: |
[DMCA-Activists] CHE - EPIC Warns Colleges Not to Monitor Student File Sharing |
Date: |
Fri, 08 Nov 2002 10:05:36 -0500 |
(Forwarded from Pho list; originally from Chronicle of
Higher Education)
-------- Original Message --------
Date: Fri, 8 Nov 2002 08:12:55 -0600
From: Steve Jones <address@hidden>
To: address@hidden
The Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/free/2002/11/2002110802t.htm
Privacy Advocates Warn Colleges Not to Monitor Content of
Students' File Sharing
By SCOTT CARLSON
Friday, November 8, 2002
An organization of privacy advocates has released an open
letter urging colleges not to monitor the content of
peer-to-peer and other file-sharing transmissions. The
group says such monitoring could violate student privacy.
The letter is a direct response to an earlier appeal to
colleges from the recording-industry and motion-picture
associations, which asked the institutions to use emerging
technologies to monitor networks for "inappropriate use"
and copyright compliance. (That letter is also available
online; it can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader,
available free.)
The new letter, written by the Electronic Privacy
Information Center, says that monitoring networks could
"have a chilling effect on the marketplace of ideas" and
might expose colleges to liabilities under the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA. The letter
also contends that adoption of monitoring technologies
could lead to routine compromises of privacy and "is likely
to lead to an escalating network 'arms race,' potentially
harming overall network integrity and performance."
The Recording Industry Association of America issued a
brusque reply from its president, Cary Sherman: "I don't
think anyone needs to lecture universities about academic
freedom and respecting the First Amendment or privacy
rights of their students."
Chris J. Hoofnagle, legislative counsel for the privacy
group, says the entertainment industry's letter was
"reasonable" in asking universities both to adopt
strategies for managing bandwidth loads and to create
educational programs for deterring file sharing. But, he
adds, the industry stepped over the line when it urged
colleges to monitor activity on their networks.
"It's impossible to monitor for copyright compliance without
peering into the content of communications," he says. "We
argue that it's not consistent with the mission of a
college and university to monitor and ban transmissions."
That said, Mr. Hoofnagle does not know of any colleges
engaged in monitoring content on their networks. Most
colleges steer clear of such monitoring, fearing that it
will compromise provisions in the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act that protect Internet service providers from
lawsuits. The act's so-called safe-harbor provisions allow
service providers to claim immunity from lawsuits by
holders of infringed copyrights as long as the providers
didn't know that users of their services were breaking the
law, and as long as the providers took action against the
user as soon as the questionable activity was pointed out.
However, Mr. Hoofnagle says he has recently heard of
regents' pressuring college technology offices to adopt
more invasive monitoring strategies, though he would not
say where this has occurred. "There has been a lot of
pressure from the recording industry on colleges and
universities, and I don't think there has been a concerted
counter pressure from the computing or student
communities," he says. "What we're trying to do is rally
students and computer professionals around these ideas."
Copyright © 2002 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
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