Your favorite four letter word.

Or maybe its just mine.

The RIAA (for those not up on college lawsuits, that’s the Recording Industry Association of America) gained some serious ground in President Bush’s Higher Education Act, signed into law in August.

The act covered everything from gift sharing to tuition and student loans, but we’ll get to that later.

The reason why the HEOA matters now is that the impact it will have on peer to peer file sharing is just starting to surface.

The ease with which college students used to (illegally) download music is gone, after the RIAA hit thousands of college students with pre-litigation letters that ordered them to pay a settlement fee, often up to $3,000, or face jail time.

Now, the steps RIAA used to “strongly recommend” are written into the bill:

What the bill lays out isn’t far removed from what many colleges are already doing. But it’s going to elevate the tension that’s long existed between information officers and the recording industry.

The tension started in the first wave of RIAA pre-litigation letters in February 2007.  Here’s how it works : The RIAA traces illegal activity to an IP address. Then it asks  the college or university , usually via information or technology officers, for the identity of the alleged offender (your average student).

And then, administrators from some colleges and universities (like our own Dave Weil — thanks Dave!) refused to hand over the information.

Unfortunately, subpoenas eliminated that road block.

That’s chapter one.

Chapter two made colleges and universities even more angry. In January  the Motion Picture Association of America let it slip that they may have … probably … definitely overestimated how much college students contribute to the country’s illegal file sharing. In 2005, they claimed college students accounted for 44 percent of all illegal file sharing. Earlier this year, they took it back. It turns out only 15 PERCENT of illegally shared material  was by college students.

… Oops?

So now what we’re left with is the beginning of a new tug of war : how much the colleges and universities are willing to comply with the rules, and how strictly the RIAA and feds will enforce them.

I’m not saying RIAA is completely wrong. What’s going on is illegal — but targeting a population that comprises only 15 percent of your problem probably isn’t the best way to go about changing a long history of music downloading culture. Not to mention these new regulations could cost colleges upwards of $40,000 a year — money, in light of how the economy has been going, that could probably be directed somewhere more practical.

Keep this on the radar. It could get feisty.

Congress reauthorizes sneaky Higher Ed Bill

SenateOn Thursday the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007. This is good news, for many reasons. Here are some of the things this bill will do, if implemented:

Here’s the bad news, for administrators and students who like stealing music from the Internet. Buried in the middle of the bill, rather inconspicuously, is a small paragraph with potentially controversial effects. Essentially, any college or university accepting any money under the auspices of the bill must:

“develop a plan for offering alternatives to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property as well as a plan to explore technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity.”

However, Nate Anderson at Ars Technica writes that this won’t have much of an effect, because schools that don’t make a plan won’t actually be denied federal funding. Phew. Illegal procedures, proceed.

“Not making such plans would carry no consequences, however, and we’re told by House staffers that no one’s federal financial aid is in danger.”

I guess we can have our cake and eat it too.

The RIAA lied about the campus piracy problem

MPAABack in 2005, the Motion Picture Association of America - Hollywood’s lobbying organization and a general nuisance to college students around the country - commissioned a study which found that 44 percent of the industry’s domestic losses came from illegal downloading of movies by college students. At the time, pretty much everybody accepted their numbers. The MPAA went on to lobby Congress to force colleges to stop their students from illegally downloading movies, based largely on this figure of 44 percent.

Boy, were they wrong.

Turns out, their study was off by 29 percent! How could that happen, you ask? “Human error” was the reason they gave to the Associated Press. Sure. I think it was the fact that 44 percent sounds a lot more damning than 15 measly percentage points. Honestly, I’m pretty upset with my demographic, guys. Can’t we be doing more than just 15 percent of the country’s movie downloading? Let’s pick up the pace.

However, the study, which was performed by a research firm called LEK, is apparently still correct with their finding that worldwide, Hollywood has lost more than $6.1 billion to movie piracy. At least it’s not all the fault of college kids anymore.

Congress throws money at the piracy problem

At first glance, the The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 seems like a pretty good thing. And don’t get me wrong, it is. Mostly.

The 747-page bill (a much quicker summary here) is intended to make college cheaper by streamlining the FAFSA process, keeping student lending practices honest, and creating more need-based aid. It also provides incentives to colleges to keep down costs, makes a half-hearted attempt to make books cheaper (try Half.com instead) and plans to forgive $5,000 in loans to students who enter public service jobs (Here’s to wishing that protecting democracy journalism was considered a public service). It’ll also provide money to help disabled students go to college and in case of a disaster will provide money for schools to rebuild.

So, all in all, sounds just peachy, right? Well, not if you read between the lines, or more specifically, just pages 411-412. Practically buried in Congressional jargon and verbosity is a lovely little section entitled CAMPUS-BASED DIGITAL THEFT PREVENTION.

Essentially, any college or university accepting any money under the auspices of the bill must:

“develop a plan for offering alternatives to illegal downloading or peer-to-peer distribution of intellectual property as well as a plan to explore technology-based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity.?

It also authorizes the Education department to offer all-purpose, monetary grants (read: free cash) to colleges who pledge to “eliminate the illegal downloading and distribution of intellectual property? on campuses through the use of technology and other policing methods.

Well, the stick didn’t work, so now they’re trying the carrot, I guess. But this bill, with its promise of easy money, could potentially pit colleges (or their internet providers) against students illegally downloading music and movies, when in reality, it’s not their job to hunt down students trying to grab “Crank Dat” off LimeWire.

Guess who’s loving this, though: the people whose job it is to police illegal downloading. Here’s an adoring statement from the MPAA:

?The MPAA commends Chairman Miller for taking this step to protect intellectual property on college campuses,? said MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman. ?Intellectual property theft is a worldwide problem that hurts our economy and costs more than 140,000 American jobs every year. We are pleased to see that Congress is taking this step to help keep our economy strong by protecting copyrighted material on college campuses.?

Oh, and while researching this, I found a funny little thing on the RIAA’s homepage: featured prominently in the menu on the side of the site is a link called: “For Students Doing Reports.“

Apparently they get so overwhelmed with questions from college students writing research papers about downloading music illegally — while probably simultaneously downloading the top 500 rock songs of all times off Bittorrent — that they’ve put together a special page summarizing their views on music piracy for those adorable little college kids who just want to learn more about the enemy, essentially.

Thanks for being interested in the music industry and our positions on various issues. We get many requests from students and others for information for papers and other research needs.

So what are its views on illegally downloading copyrighted materials, you ask? PIRACY: BAD. PAYING US: GOOD.

Sounds like a great start for a research paper to me.

Roundup: More Old News

RIAA at it again: This was officially reported on last week, but I thought I’d mention anyway. Via Slashdot, Billboard reported that “early settlement” letters were sent to 22 colleges, including our neighbor at Cornell. They deliberately aren’t targeting Harvard because the RIAA might not have a case (gasp!), so the question to students and campuses alike is this: Why aren’t you talking to Harvard to get these jerks off your back? I guess the other question is: Would you please stop stealing music already?

The Emergency Text Messaging System: Colleges are starting to use text messaging systems ? and Facebook! ? to get in contact with students. It’d be used in cases like VT or this week’s incident at St. John’s University (did you know he went to Cornell?). You pretty much can search anywhere for text alerts and higher ed is all the rage about these. Here at Ithaca, college administrators are jumping up and down to get people signed up for our emergency alert system. There’s a report somewhere on the tubes about the speed of these systems refuting their speed claims, but I can’t seem to find it.

College students drink? An article in Sunday’s New York Times discussed the Rider drinking incident and what colleges are doing to address this issue. Some interesting quotes and it’s certainly worth the read ? best line from a smart freshman, who call out college administrations on the CYA I referred to earlier.

To her, [freshman Ashley Reimer] said, it felt as if administrators were trying to protect themselves for liability reasons.

?Honestly, I think students are going to do what they want to do,? she said.

We should find more rich people: The L.A. Times is reporting today that Claremont McKenna College is getting $200 million to start a graduate program at the institution. It’s being called the single largest donation to an American liberal arts institution, which I guess makes sense because most campaigns ? save the Ivys’ multi-billion dollar campaigns ? have a goal in that dollar range (by the by, ours is $115 millon ? pitch in won’t you?) . It’s almost as impressive as a $128 million donation made a couple of weeks ago ? to a high school.

Speaking of money… turns out Bush did sign that bill to help increase Pell grant awards we reported on today. Won’t help me, but it’s nice to see some increases in student aid. I imagine Peggy must be happy about this.

Round-Up: You think you’re all big and bad?

riaa.GIFGot told: The University of Wisconsin was quickly becoming the darling of the pro-piracy anti-RIAA crowd, since they were one of the few brave souls to ignore those pre-litigation letters. A U.S. district court judge decided earlier this week they must turn over the names. But because university refused to give the letters during the “pre-” part, any settlement made with the RIAA will not received the substantial discount (just the arm! you can keep the leg!) that those who got the letters on time had.

The eigth word? WQRI, the student radio station of Roger Williams University, fired two of their DJ for repeating the Offensive Phrase of 2007, “nappy-headed hos,” on the airwaves repeatedly. Dana Peloso and Jon Porter, the Imus’d DJs, are claiming their show was part of a political take-down in collaboration wit the administration. Peloso is the president of College Republicans on campus, who just happen to have Jason Mattera coming to speak. The CR at RWU have grabbed the media spotlight before with the “Whites Only” scholarship a few years back. The station’s manager, Mike Martelli, held a vote (at a staff meeting neither Peloso or Porter attended) and it was unanimously decided that the phrase would not be used multiple times on the air, thanks to the FCC license review WQRI is under. Martelli, apparently a former College Republican himself, wrote a response to the IHE story. (Scroll to the bottom. Uh, “free speach?” Dude: spellcheck.) It sounds more like a pissing match between DJs who think they’re above Martelli and a station manager who feels slighted than an actual attempt to silence speech. But I’m a little concerned that there was no dissent from the other student DJs about the phrase and this pervasive idea that radio has to be “a non-offensive product.” Just sayin’.

Where’s IvyGate when you need it? Director of the FBI Robert Mueller got heckled during his speech at Harvard last week, the Harvard Crimson dutifully reported. Also dutifully reported: two of their own editors were the hecklers. Michael A. Gould-Wartofsky and J. Claire Provost (those names exude Haaarvard) were chanting things like ?We will never forget the role of the FBI in McCarthyism!? and “Stop the unconstitutional repression of the environment!” (Most likely followed by snickering.) The term editor is misleading ? anyone from a writer to a photographer to graphics designer is an editor ? but it didn’t stop Romenesko and The New Editor working up a small lather over it.

Starting fresh: Here’s something you don’t see every 100 years: the newest university in the Georgia system started last year with 116 students and expects a whopping 3,000 to enroll this fall. Georgia Gwinnett College (”The campus of tomorrow” with a Web site from 15 years ago) expects to have 15,000 students by 2012, but for now they’re more concerned with making sure high school students in Gwinnet County even know they exist. Don’t worry, they’ve got plenty of hats, key chains and coffee mugs already made. But this is kind of a neat idea; the students get to make their own traditions, start their own student government, choose their own mascot. Hey, I hear one might be looking for a job.

Roundup: Get your Atkind gear while it’s hot!

PrincessGate will never get old: Thanks to the magic of Internet?, jokes can turn from a simple news article to a a blogpost (complete with anti-Semetic jokes/prison rape jokes abound) to an ironic T-shirt quicker than you can say “Duke Lacrosse Witch Hunt.” My personal favorites from the “store”: the terrorist pack of playing cards featuring cute puppies instead of dictators (oh no! not Precious!) and the Atkind/Cheney ‘08 ticket tossed in for good measure. I guess torture is torture is torture. [Thanks, Cornell Justice!]

Tough noogies: You go to a college that costs almost $40K, and you just got slapped by the RIAA. What are you going to do now? Complain to the dean, apparently, and Ithaca College’s Dean Dianne Lynch has little to no sympathy for you. She basically told them to cough up the $3,000 bucks to avoid facing litigation at the price of $750 per song and an less-than-clean criminal record. Sure it’s a publcity stunt ? I’d call it slow-motion mugging ? but she says the alternatives (like, gulp, trying to apply for a job with a record) are worse. Commenters are taking her to task, incorrectly, about the lack of protection other schools give their students. Maybe we should add a legal primer class to the majors?

You’ll have to pry this Dave Matthews discography from my cold, dead hands

riaa.GIFWell, it was bound to happen. The RIAA finally sent out over 400 of their latest round of “pre-litigation settlement” letters, and 20 of them were lucky enough to hit Ithaca College. Both the Mothership and the Ithaca Journal have some information, but Dave Maley, the associate director of media relations, is keeping mum on the who, when and where for now. The Journal also is smart to point out that it could be either students or staff, which makes things a little more interesting.

We’re in good company: heavy hitters like Boston, Columbia, Dartmouth, Purdue, uh… Drexel? The University of Wisconsin-Madison already said it wouldn’t act as the lackeys for them, but the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has a different problem: they have no idea where to send the letters. Their system resets the IP address ? the only way the RIAA knows their John/Jane Does ? every time the computer logs on, and the records are only kept for a month. The RIAA is not amused, but unless they can magically pluck the remaining 27 swashbuckling students, Nebraska says they can’t help.

Round-up: Making college loan-free

(Sorry for the spring break hiatus; College Ave. is back to work. Send any tips to collegeaveblog@gmail.com.)

debt.jpgEasing the costs: Davidson College, a small liberal arts in South Carolina, made a step towards making college debt-free. Starting next year, any student who qualifies for need-based aid will receive a financial aid package with part-time work studies and grant money ? no student loans. While they aren’t the first (there are about a dozen other schools nationwide), it is encouraging to students and their parents who skip over Davidson and its $40K+ sticker price. (Ithaca College: I’m looking at you.)

Battle royale: New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo issued a scathing press release accusing banks and universities in being in “an unholy alliance” over student loans:

The financial arrangements between lenders and these schools are filled with the potential for conflicts of interest. In some cases they may break the law.

The offenses he’s found run the gamut of corruption: kickbacks for loans, slush fund junkets, credit lines for colleges to get the “preferred” stamp of approval, etc. Dallas Martin, the president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, fired back, claiming that no one in the NASFAA takes bribes or any other shady practices. Martin also chides Cuomo for trying to “inflame rather than to inform? and asked for a formal apology. [Via InsideHigherEd]

Harboring pirates? The RIAA ranked the major universities with the naughty, naughty students downloading the latest Nelly Furtado album, but number 10 on the list, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, decided not to send out the scare tactic settlement letter from RIAA over students on their campus downloading music illegally. They did, however, send out a hey-guys-cut-it-out email to everyone hoping that would be enough to stop the major offenders in addition to the (compulsory) cease-and-desist letters. Anything is better than directing them to the settlement website to cash out; some of those settlements have hit $7,000 smackeroos. Maybe they could get Ruckus and be done with it.