Forget party schools: The RIAA lists the top piracy schools

Live forum: http://forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=54933

Kidd

23-02-2007 15:32:53

Forget party schools The RIAA lists the top piracy schools in the US

Ohio University, Purdue University, and the University of Nebraska have made it to the top of a list, but it may not be something the universities want to brag about. The RIAA recently named the top 25 music-pirating schools in the country, an act that involved sending over 14,500 copyright infringement notices (so far) during the 2006-2007 school year. This was nearly triple the number of notices sent during the 2005-2006 school year, according to the RIAA. The group says, however, that they are taking advantage of new software tools to improve the tracking of illegal file sharing, which may be part of the reason why the numbers have skyrocketed.

The list also includes schools such as Howard University, Boston University, Arizona State University, and Syracuse University—interestingly, no west coast universities appeared to make the top 25 list. Purdue's main rival, Indiana University, did in fact make the list, but with a mere 353 notices compared to Purdue's 1,068. The list, the RIAA says, does not necessarily indicate which universities are the worst offenders, just the universities who have received the most notices.

Not all schools react the same way to the copyright notices, however, and some appear to take it more seriously than others. Michigan State University forces two-time offenders to watch an anti-piracy DVD by the RIAA, and three-time offenders could face suspension for a semester. Ohio University requires two-time offenders to face suspension, probation, or possibly a homework assignment on the topic (much worse than suspension). Among the most aggressive, the University of Tennessee turns off Internet connections for second-time offenders until they physically take their computers to a lab where their music-sharing programs are deleted for them.

Purdue, on the other hand (my not-so-proud alma mater for today), seems to be taking the "don't worry, be happy" approach to sitting pretty at the number two spot. The school almost never even notifies the students—of copyright infringement, or much of anything, in my experience. Purdue spokesman Steve Tally told the Associated Press, "In a sense, the (complaint) letter is asking us to pursue an investigation and as the service provider we don't see that as our role." This attitude expresses either extreme pompousness on Purdue's part or extreme ignorance. Is that not the whole reason why the RIAA cannot pursue potential infringers individually? The students are currently allowed to hide behind the ISP—in this case, the university—with the understanding that the ISP will investigate infringement accusations. If Purdue and any other schools who express this attitude don't feel the need to investigate, then they put themselves at risk of being sued by the RIAA.

Without further ado, the list


Ohio University - 1,287
Purdue University - 1,068
University of Nebraska at Lincoln - 1,002
University of Tennessee at Knoxville - 959
University of South Carolina - 914
University of Massachusetts at Amherst - 897
Michigan State University - 753
Howard University - 572
North Carolina State University - 550
University of Wisconsin at Madison - 513
University of South Florida - 490
Syracuse University - 488
Northern Illinois University - 487
University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire - 473
Boston University - 470
Northern Michigan University - 457
Kent State University - 424
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - 400
University of Texas at Austin - 371
North Dakota State University - 360
Indiana University - 353
Western Kentucky University - 353
Seton Hall University - 338
Arizona State University - 336
Marshall University - 331


Discuss.

Wolfeman

23-02-2007 15:44:21

Shit my school didn't make it (

zr2152

23-02-2007 15:46:45

Ohio University, also one of the top party schools.

unknown uchiha

23-02-2007 15:52:10

My school didn't make it either

moviemadnessman

23-02-2007 16:13:58

I have friends at most of those schools. My girlfriend goes to Kent State University, and it makes me laugh that they made the list, because she can't get anything to work when it comes to downloading on that network. Lol.

FreeOffersNow

23-02-2007 16:20:28

[quote754d4ea509="moviemadnessman"]I have friends at most of those schools. My girlfriend goes to Kent State University, and it makes me laugh that they made the list, because she can't get anything to work when it comes to downloading on that network. Lol.[/quote754d4ea509]

That's because the elite "pirates" are hogging all the resources ;)

moviemadnessman

23-02-2007 16:24:58

[quote705e73b4b5="FreeOffersNow"][quote705e73b4b5="moviemadnessman"]I have friends at most of those schools. My girlfriend goes to Kent State University, and it makes me laugh that they made the list, because she can't get anything to work when it comes to downloading on that network. Lol.[/quote705e73b4b5]

That's because the elite "pirates" are hogging all the resources ;)[/quote705e73b4b5]

Lol. Well, I'd say it's just her, actually ... but since I'm a computer techie, it doesn't really matter that she can't do things like that.

CollidgeGraduit

23-02-2007 17:11:37

Woohoo go Northern Michigan!

Powerbook

23-02-2007 17:23:12

This is a sweet thread. Haha my friend goes to UMASS Amherst and he got one of those "notices." Practically everyone gets them over there.

Gigante

23-02-2007 17:27:47

Damn, we didn't make it. I think it is because most everything is internal tho. Everyone shares everything in hub where there is 20TB of data and speeds average 9 MB/s and it can only be accessed with a school IP. Although two years ago they did raid the old hub because it wasn't limited to just school IPs. Some 23 subpoenas were served.

Nimh

23-02-2007 18:13:13

I'm personally glad that Purdue isn't submitting to the RIAA's fearmongering. But my school didn't make the list.

Gigante

23-02-2007 21:24:23

[quote01c5c42834="Nimh"]I'm personally glad that Purdue isn't submitting to the RIAA's fearmongering. But my school didn't make the list.[/quote01c5c42834]

Yeah schools that do are lame. Mine is one of them. Two cease and desist orders within the last year for me.

tylerc

23-02-2007 21:26:04

WHOO GO HOOSIERS!!!

csurge

24-02-2007 00:12:27

Damn, news on Engadget travels fast

CollidgeGraduit

24-02-2007 04:56:29

[quotef95493c53f="Gigante"][quotef95493c53f="Nimh"]I'm personally glad that Purdue isn't submitting to the RIAA's fearmongering. But my school didn't make the list.[/quotef95493c53f]

Yeah schools that do are lame. Mine is one of them. Two cease and desist orders within the last year for me.[/quotef95493c53f]

Amen, institutions that use public funds should give their students free reign to use school resources to break the law roll

stueybaby17

24-02-2007 08:47:23

My school didn't make it either. But they always print stuff in the school paper about how it needs to stop and is making the school look bad and that new efforts are being done to stop it.

If we get even one letter they shut down our internet until all illegal downloads are deleted from the computer. If you get another one after that you lose you interent on campus for 1 semester. After that they dont' say what they do just that penalties are more severe.

Gigante

24-02-2007 09:11:06

[quotefc6c3192d7="CollidgeGraduit"][quotefc6c3192d7="Gigante"][quotefc6c3192d7="Nimh"]I'm personally glad that Purdue isn't submitting to the RIAA's fearmongering. But my school didn't make the list.[/quotefc6c3192d7]

Yeah schools that do are lame. Mine is one of them. Two cease and desist orders within the last year for me.[/quotefc6c3192d7]

Amen, institutions that use public funds should give their students free reign to use school resources to break the law roll[/quotefc6c3192d7]

I knew we could see eye to eye. D

Killer722

24-02-2007 09:12:59

Haha, I have a few friends at Seton Hall.

johnjimjones

24-02-2007 09:29:22

Go Purdue! The bad thing is that doesn't even factor in the inter-network traffic ?

Gigante

24-02-2007 09:49:03

[quotef16034bf48="johnjimjones"]Go Purdue! The bad thing is that doesn't even factor in the inter-network traffic ?[/quotef16034bf48]

Yeah, most piracy these days is inter-network because so many schools limit the bandwidth. My school only allows us to 5GB per work, but inter-network I will easily upload .5-1TB/week

Excel

24-02-2007 10:05:52

University of Massachusetts at Amherst - 897

Woo, do now my school is the #1 most violent school, the #9 party school, and the #6 piracy school.

Vector

24-02-2007 10:19:49

Looks like I wont be going to Purdue this year D

tylerc

24-02-2007 11:16:27

[quoteafcd77ecdc="Vector"]Looks like I wont be going to Purdue this year D[/quoteafcd77ecdc]

There is never a reason to go to Purdue.

Gigante

24-02-2007 17:47:33

[quote12917faac1="tylerc"][quote12917faac1="Vector"]Looks like I wont be going to Purdue this year D[/quote12917faac1]

There is never a reason to go to Purdue.[/quote12917faac1]

Amen.

johnjimjones

24-02-2007 17:52:45

[quote5451530e91="tylerc"][quote5451530e91="Vector"]Looks like I wont be going to Purdue this year D[/quote5451530e91]

There is never a reason to go to Indiana except for Purdue.[/quote5451530e91]

Fixed.

mkpeaches

24-02-2007 19:18:59

USC made the list! P

Armstrong

24-02-2007 19:22:01

Michigan State! woo! lets burn a couch in honor

dupebag

24-02-2007 19:48:48

NCSU...i hate em..but you gotta rep NC


GO HEELS

geej86

25-02-2007 01:43:44

[ba19a77ab60]University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - 400 [/ba19a77ab60]

fuck yea

Sailorman88

25-02-2007 09:18:46

[quote8b1555f86b="unknown uchiha"]My school didn't make it either[/quote8b1555f86b]

OMG, You just made me waste the whole night by diverting me to the scambait site. lol lol I can't get away D

That's the funniest stuff I've seen in years. I've read almost the whole saga of abebola and the CSR. I'm afraid to start the "cole" saga, I might have to call in sick to work tomorrow.
Thanks for the link