Online music sharers across campus can, for the time being, breathe a sigh of relief. In September, the Recording Industry Association of America issued a subpoena to the University requiring that it disclose the identities of 17 individuals thought to have illegally shared music files within the campus’ computer network system. But Oregon Attorney General Hardy Meyers filed a motion to quash that subpoena, potential confidentiality laws that could be breached as a result.
The RIAA wants the University’s help in identifying the 17 network users who have allegedly violated copyright laws by sharing music on their
computers via illegal downloading software, such as LimeWire. But the University’s network services department, which manages computer systems across campus, noted several obstacles impeding them from identifying the users definitively.
Several of the users in question have IP addresses belonging to two-person rooms in the residence halls. But any computer activity registered within the addresses’ domain will be logged in network service’s databank under a single IP address, making it difficult to determine which person, if either, was involved.
In addition, if someone was to download music on their laptop, but did so in a friend’s room in the residence hall, or plugged into the library’s ethernet, network services could only discern that the illegal activity took place in that space. Furthermore, network services director Dale Smith believes it would be difficult – if not impossible – to identify 16 of the 17 alleged copyright infringers “without conducting interviews and a forensic investigation of the computers likely involved.”
With the rise of peer-to-peer network services, the music industry has been forced to react by taking broad measures in preventing the downloading and dissemination of online music files. The RIAA in particular has been busy in years since the music-swapping boom changed the way people share music. Numerous lawsuits have been filed against individuals who share music files, asking for settlement figures in the thousands of dollars.
But the motion filed by Meyers in the U.S. District Court of Oregon represents a shift away from the recording industry’s demands, and toward the confidentiality rights of students. University officials also have fallen in line behind the students. They point to the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which prevents schools from disclosing information about students without their consent. There is an exception in the law for subpoenas, but since the users in question cannot be positively identified, the University will not disclose them.
By all accounts, this will not be the last the University hears from the RIAA. The music industry is likely to continue its course of litigation against the individuals in question. But we applaud the state Attorney General’s decision to quash the subpoena, and the University for reinforcing its responsibility to protect the privacy rights of students.